


True Love cannot die

by Lilyyuri



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec cannot dance!, Bad Parent Maryse Lightwood, Boys In Love, F/M, Lightwood siblings are the best, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-27
Updated: 2018-02-27
Packaged: 2019-03-24 20:15:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 41,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13818639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilyyuri/pseuds/Lilyyuri
Summary: The war is over, and everyone just want to enjoy the peace while it lasts. Alec is happy, he’s the head of the New York institute as he always dreamed, he’s got Magnus by his side and he’s more in love than ever. What could possibly go wrong? Well, quite a lot if you ask Maryse…Mostly Malec, because come on… With a little bit of other relationships thrown in.Bad, bad Maryse!





	1. Chapter I

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Of course I don't own this, I barely own the laptop I'm writing on...
> 
> Author's note: This is set after the end of season 2, so no specific spoilers but there could be spoilers to any and all things in the series. BTW, I’ve never read the books- to be honest, I didn’t know the books existed until my friend urged me to watch the show… 
> 
> I really want to get this all out before the new season airs, so I decided to start posting it now and hopefully finish writing in the next couple of days (I’m about 2/3 of the way done), crossing fingers and toes!

****

** Amor verus numquam mortuum  
True love cannot die  
Chapter I **

Magnus heard the knock on the door from his workroom. Wiping his hands delicately he made sure everything was in order before he went to answer it. Humming softly, with his hips swishing he made his way through the loft, a soft smile on his face. It had been a good day- no annoying clients, no pesky shadowhunters or downworlders clamoring for his attention which meant he was able to complete quite a few tasks that were waiting patiently for a day just like this.

“Ah, the lovely Isabelle,” He said with a bright smile as he opened the door and saw who was there, “My second favorite Lightwood!” Isabelle couldn't help but roll her eyes at the compliment. She followed Magnus into the loft, watching as the warlock made his way to the sofa and sat himself with a flourish and crossed his legs, “What can I do for you?” 

“I wanted to talk to you about something,” Isabelle said as she sat herself beside Magnus, 

“Is everything alright?” Magnus asked, his good mood starting to dissipate away at the uncertain look in Isabelle's dark eyes, “Is something wrong with Alexander?” Isabelle quickly shook her head, 

“No no, Alec's fine.” She said hurriedly, hoping to stave Magnus' worry before it spread, “Last time I saw him he was in his office, said he was trying to finish up a couple of things so that he could get home to you in a reasonable hour.” Isabelle smiled, it was so amazing how quickly Alec and Magnus had become such a domestic couple, even before they officially moved in together. For anyone who didn't know better they looked like they've been together for years, not months, completely in sync with each other. It was adorable and so darn cute, and she was so glad her brother was finally comfortable with himself and happy, so very happy. Magnus gave a soft little smile and Isabelle found she was trying to stave a pang of jealousy. She spent years trying to find a good man, sure the road there was also fun but ultimately she was kinda sick of being alone, while Alec- the bastard got all the luck in the world on his first try! If she didn't love Alec so much she'd hate him for this. 

“Then what is it?” 

“Well, it's about Raphael actually.” She said, her voice turning a little exasperated and made Magnus want to roll his eyes. Of course it was, ever since Raphael caved in and allowed Isabelle access to his life, post the whole vampire venom addiction it felt to him like he was playing both shrink and parent to both, each coming to him with their little problems and insecurities. He didn't mind of course, he cared for both of them and wanted nothing more than for both to be happy, but the truth was- sometimes he wasn't all that convinced that being together was going to get them that happiness. 

“What did our delightfully grumpy vampire do now?” He asked lightly, hoping this would not be too heavy and heart-wrenching, because if what Isabelle said was true then Alec would be home shortly and he hoped that some of his good mood lasted. 

“His birthday is coming up and I was thinking about throwing him a surprise party.” Isabelle said with a wide smile, “I need your help to plan it.” Magnus held up his hand, trying his best not to get swept away with the idea of planning a party, 

“You discovered when his birthday is?” He asked, his eyebrows going up with the surprise, “Usually vampires are less than thrilled to share this type of information,” Even he didn't know when Raphael's birthday was, and he knew the boy for over fifty years. Immortals, as a rule, didn't really do birthdays, because what was another year in the grand scheme of things, and vampires were the worst about it. Finding out when a vampire's birthday was... that was a big deal. 

“I have my ways.” Isabelle said with a coy shrug and a broad smile and Magnus decided to leave it at that, some things were best left unknown when it came to other couples. “So, will you help me?” 

“A surprise party may not be the best idea,” Magnus confessed with an apologetic smile, his fingers wriggling softly. At Isabelle's confused frown he elaborated, “Vampires are not the best creatures to surprise, even by a strong shadowhunter like yourself.” Isabelle deflated at hearing this, damn that was spoiling all her plans! “And Raphael is worse than most.” 

“Great,” She scoffed, “Just like Alec!” She rolled her eyes impressively, this was really unfair, there was so little she could do with Raphael as it was, due to the fact he didn't eat or stepped outside into sunlight, and now she couldn't even surprise him with a party? 

“What do you mean 'Just like Alec'?” Magnus asked suspiciously, 

“He didn't tell you?” Isabelle asked, surprised, and Magnus shook his head, his brow furrowing with dread, “When Alec was fifteen Jace and I decided to throw him a surprise party.” She started telling the story, watching as the dread settled deeper with every word, “It was going to be the party of the year, everyone was there and the theme was amazing. But when Alec walked into the room and saw all the people he immediately turned and ran away.” She finished with a sigh, this was one of her only failures in party planing, and it still stung, “It took us nearly a day to find him.” 

“Well...” Magnus breathed out, “It's a good thing I learned this now...” Isabelle looked at him sharply, 

“Wait, did you already start planning Alec's birthday?” She asked incredulously and Magnus rolled his eyes, 

“Of course not, Alexander's birthdays is almost six months away!” Yes, he loved Alec more than anything but he did not need six months in order to throw an amazing birthday party, not to mention he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to throw one- the idea of having Alexander all to himself was much more appealing to be honest. “This is just one idea off the list.” 

“So you think I shouldn't throw Raphael a party?” Isabelle asked, trying to bring Magnus back to the topic at hand. This was always a risk when talking to either Magnus or Alec- they tended to drift off whenever the other person's name was being mentioned. Again cute, but really annoying sometimes. 

“Oh, you should definitely throw Raphael a party, kitten!” Magnus said, a mischievous spark in his eyes, “Just let him know beforehand.” 

“He's going to hate it, isn't he?” If this was Magnus' idea of annoying Raphael, she was going to... get very creative with her whip!

“Probably, but that is no excuse to not have a party.” Magnus said brightly, every excuse to have a party was a welcome one! And Raphael would just have to suck it and be gracious about it. Or leave early... “Don't worry kitten, I'll be there every step of the way, helping you out.” Isabelle smiled broadly, Magnus' enthusiasm finally rubbing off. 

“Thank you!” She cried and throw herself at the surprised warlock with a huge hug. Magnus patted her back softly, shaking his head fondly. 

“So, I take it things are going well between the two of you,” He said once she released him and Isabelle shrugged, 

“Everything is fine.” She replied. After Raphael had tried to shut her away, claiming he wasn't safe for her Isabelle found herself in a very new position for her, rejected. And she didn't like it, not at all. In a way, Isabelle had to admit, she should thank Alec for his idea of weekly meetings with the downworld's representatives, because that way she was sure to meet her vampire every week and eventually even Raphael couldn't ignore her anymore. They had started off tentatively, at first Raphael didn't trust himself around her and asked for someone, usually Simon or Max to be around when she was. It annoyed Isabelle quite a bit, she was not used to being chaperoned. It was a strange relationship, Isabelle had to admit, and not something she was used to- the one time she tried to seduce Raphael he had shot her down and told her he wasn't interested in sex and that left her quite shocked. Once she got over her venom addiction she really had time to think about what that meant and no one was more surprised than her to be back in Hotel DuMort wanting to spend time with a brooding and quite grumpy a-sexual vampire. Isabelle Lightwood was known for her body and sexual charms and she was so used getting her way with them, weather it was for pleasure or work and now she was stripped of the ability to use those and all that was left was her, bare-souled and honest- and she liked it. “He's teaching me how to cook.” 

“That's great!” Magnus said, a little too enthusiastically for Isabelle's taste. She sent him a glare which he returned with an unashamed grin- cheeky Magnus! She knew both Alec and Jace had told Magnus about what they thought of her cooking, and she wholly blamed Magnus for Alec's newly improved taste buds, her brother was the only one who never complained about her cooking, but even he won't touch her food since he started going out with Magnus. Magnus saw her pout and smiled, patting her hand reassuringly, “Learning a new skill is always welcome, and cooking is definitely a skill worth learning,” He said breezily, “Or having enough money to pay someone else who has that skill.” He added with a little wink and Isabelle laughed. “Raphael is a wonderful cook.” 

“He is,” Isabelle said with a soft smile, “He's great, he really is.” 

“But?” Magnus prompted gently, knowing there was more to it, and Isabelle sighed, 

“It's just that sometimes I miss sex, you know?” Magnus let out a soft breath, this must be hard for someone like Isabelle Lightwood, who had honed her sensuality like a weapon and could use it just as well as she wielded her whip. “I miss being touched, I miss kissing!” 

“Have you discussed this with Raphael?” Magnus knew the boy wasn't interested in sex, they've had countless talks in the matter, Raphael doing his best to hide this from his clan and pretty much everyone else, thinking there was something wrong with him. At first this affiliation with Isabelle baffled Magnus because there probably were no bigger opposites than these two, but over time he learned to see how good they were for each other, even if he had a hard time trying to convince Alec of this. But the sex thing, that was always going to be a huge obstacle, sitting right in the middle of their relationship, no matter how long it lasted. It made Magnus almost laugh when he thought about the way he and Alec were so concerned with each other's pasts, because that problem was solved quite satisfactorily the night they first slept together. Blinking his eyes he took a deep breath, trying to regain composure before Isabelle noticed he was Alec-spacing again. 

“He says he doesn't mind if I find someone else for that,” Isabelle confessed. At first she had been quite relieved when Raphael said that, but the more she thought about it the more she found herself being offended that Raphael didn't think she had any self-control. She looked up at Magnus, who gave her a 'And?' look, and sighed, “I'm not sure I want someone else...” She admitted. No one had ever promised her that dating Raphael Santiago was going to be easy... 

“It sounds like you're falling in love with him.” Magnus said softly, and Isabelle slumped back on the sofa. Damn it, that was what she was afraid of... 

“Mum and dad are going to love this...” She said with an impressive roll of her eyes. Not that she normally cared about what her parents, and especially her mother, thought of her affiliations with men, but having sex with downworlders to get information (and naturally for fun) was a world of difference from falling in love with one. 

“Sadly, when it comes to your parents I have a feeling that no matter what you will do, you'd still be better off than your brother.” Magnus said with a sad smile and Isabelle reached for his hand. This was really unfair, the way her parents didn't see how good Magnus was for Alec. 

“Magnus, I'm really sorry...” She said, wrapping her arms around the warlock and pulling him into a tight hug. She really hated the way her parents, well her mother really, treated Magnus and found she was apologizing far more than she should for something she didn't do. It was infuriating, after all she was one of Alec and Magnus' biggest supporters. 

“That's quite alright, kitten,” Magnus said softly, accepting Isabelle's hug with grace. Normally he didn't care much for parents and their opinions- most of his former lovers never even bothered with introducing him, even if their parents were alive at the time. But Alec was all about family, and he cared what his parents thought and that blatant disregard of his feelings was hurting Magnus as well. Oh, if he only could make Maryse and Robert Lightwood disappear from his life forever... Pulling himself together with a sigh he gave Isabelle a brave smile, “Come on kitten, we've got a party to plan!” 

Before he had time to even get up from the sofa the door to the loft burst open and in ran Alec, his face etched with worry and his bow and quiver unglamoured. 

“Magnus!” He cried in a rush, “We need to move, I can't find Izzy!” Just then he spotted his sister on the sofa next to Magnus. Without losing a beat Alec rushed over, pulling Isabelle to her feet and hugging her tight. 

“Alec, what's going on?” She asked, her voice slightly muffled by the fact her face were pressed against Alec's shirt, 

“You scared the hell out of me.” Alec complained loudly, his voice still a little rough from his earlier scare and he knew that Isabelle could hear how fast his heart was beating and not only because her ear was directly pressed against it. “Why aren't you answering your phone?” Isabelle pulled herself away from her brother, looking apologetic, 

“I forgot to switch it back on after training.” She explained and extracted herself out of her brother's hold, walking over to the side of the sofa where she left her jacket. While Isabelle was busy checking her calls (16 missed ones from Alec) and messages (starting with 'Hey Iz, what's up?' and going all the way to 'If that vampire did something to you I swear I'm going to stake him! Screw the accords!'), Magnus rose gracefully from the sofa and smiled at his boyfriend, tapping his cheek lightly to indicate he wanted a kiss. Alec smiled, relief was washing all over his body and making him feel tingly, as he crossed the short distance to his warlock and pulled him in for a proper kiss. 

Isabelle lifted her eyes from her phone, the anger at Alec's messages bubbling fiercely, to see her brother and his boyfriend in a lip-lock that felt a little too intimate to witness, but she was already used to that because apparently those two didn't have a tone-it-down dial. 

“You were going to raid the DuMort?” She asked, her voice hard and her eyes harder. Even after all the talks, arguments and even fights they had in the matter it seemed she couldn't get the over-protectiveness out of Alec's system no matter how hard she tried. Being in a relationship with Raphael sure didn't help... Alec pulled back from his kiss and gave her an apologetic shrug, 

“I was going to start my search there...” He explained somewhat sheepishly, knowing Isabelle was pissed as hell with him right now, but she should have known better and not ignore his calls! He couldn't really switch off a habit of a lifetime just because she insisted she was a grown up! 

“Alec,” Isabelle started sternly, but never got to finish her tirade because Magnus boldly stepped between the siblings, who were glaring daggers at each other, 

“Well, now that everyone is safe, how about some dinner,” He announced happily, doing his best to diffuse the situation because he really didn't feel like knocking them both out with magic, which he was fully prepared to do if things got out of hand! “I'm starving!” 

“Dinner sounds great,” Isabelle said, deciding she was in too good a mood to be ruined by Alec, “I'm in.” 

“What are you in the mood for, kitten? Anything you like,” Magnus said generously, his smile broad as he glanced over to Alec and saw his shoulders relaxing. Good. 

“Brazilian.” Isabelle said after thinking about it, 

“Would that be men or food?” Alec muttered under his breath, but unfortunately he wasn't quiet enough and earned himself a death glare from Isabelle and an elbow to the ribs from Magnus, 

“Excellent,” Magnus declared loudly, hoping to drown Alec's little faux-pas, “I know this wonderful little place in Bahia,” He prattled on as he moved his hands in a circular motions, creating a portal in the middle of the living room, “And it's close enough to Carnaval so we can also go dancing afterwards.” That earned him a bright happy smile from Isabelle and a pained groan from Alec, which he chose to ignore as he linked his arms with both Lightwoods and the three stepped into the swirling portal.


	2. Chapter II

It was a few hours later when a portal materialized in the middle of the Brooklyn loft, spitting out Magnus and Alec. They both looked happy, Magnus in particular, his body still strumming with the energy he spent dancing- he loved dancing. Alec looked happy simply watching his boyfriend, because watching Magnus dance was a world of fun on its own, not to mention hot as hell. 

Alec took off his jacket, placing it on the arm-rest of the sofa before plopping gracelessly on it. Before he had time to do anything else he had a lap full of sweaty boyfriend. Alec smiled as Magnus grabbed his face and kissed him forcefully- oh, he knew very well what got Magnus in this state, and frankly, he was loving it. 

“You are mine!” Magnus practically growled, and Alec found he was having hard time trying to control the laughter bubbling in his throat, 

“Yes...” He let out a breathless moan as Magnus started attacking his throat, sucking and biting none too gently, while grinding himself against his shadowhunter. Alec felt helpless with want and simply let Magnus have his way, grabbing his hips and trying to bring their bodies closer together. 

“I don't like it when people are trying to be too friendly with you.” He informed Alec, who couldn't stop smiling. Magnus wasn't usually this possessive, and Alec suspected it was all that dancing. Dancing normally left Magnus hyped on energy and very horny, which was one of the reasons why Alec liked watching him so much. And tonight had been no different, he had sat by a small table, nursing a beer and watching Magnus and Isabelle dancing in the midst of a cheerful crowd of Brazilians and tourists, the music was vibrant and joyful and everyone seemed to be having a good time. Magnus had tried to cajole him into joining them at first, but it was Isabelle who whispered something in his ear, no doubt giving Magnus an account of Alec's abysmal dancing skills, that made his warlock roll his eyes and give up. Alec didn't mind, he preferred it this way- he hated dancing. 

“Is that why everyone who tried to talk to me ran away like the chair was on fire?” He asked, his voice catching every time Magnus found another sensitive spot on his neck. Magnus pulled back and gave his boyfriend a cheeky smile, 

“Well, a little spark goes a long way...” He said, wriggling his fingers and watching them and Alec couldn't help the snort of laughter that escaped his mouth, so Magnus was scaring people away from him with magic! “You probably should have worn a glamour.”

“And spoil all the fun?” Alec answered cheekily and was punished by a sharp grab to his crotch. Alec moaned softly, he never got to experience this side of Magnus so fully but he couldn't deny he was loving every second of it. “Come on, people were just being friendly, I thought you liked the Brazilian friendliness...” He managed to maintain his cheeky grin, though to be honest he wasn't sure how, because if Magnus didn't follow up on his teasing and soon, someone was going to get badly hurt! 

“Not when they are hitting on my man!” Magnus growled, his glamour long gone and his cat eyes glowing in the semi darkness of the room. A part of Magnus was surprised about how passionate he himself was. It wasn't that he didn't trust Alec, but he really didn't like people trying to touch his boyfriend, 

“They weren't hitting on me... were they?” Alec said with a confused frown, making Magnus want to roll his eyes and kiss him, hard- so he did. Only Alexander Lightwood would not know how gorgeous he was and that pretty much everyone who tried to talk to him tonight, men and women alike had other thoughts than just making a new friend. It made him love Alec even more. 

“You are amazing, Alexander, you know that?” Magnus said fondly, caressing his boyfriends' face tenderly and Alec rolled his eyes, doing his best not to blush. He was still not overly used to compliments, especially when those were delivered with such earnest and loving gaze in those amazing cat eyes. “I trust you, with all my heart; it's them I don't trust.” He finished with a soft growl that made Alec smile. As long as they both understood this was only a game of sorts he was willing to let Magnus continue being jealous, especially if it made him so horny and needy for him. He honestly didn't think any of the people who tried to talk to him tonight wanted something more from him than just company, but even if they did- he had eyes only for one person, and as Izzy often said, any fool could see that. Brandishing his hand with flourish Magnus created a soft blue orb in his palm that dissipated to leave behind a small box. “I have something for you.” He presented the box to Alec, who took it with a small frown, 

“What's that for?” He asked as he opened the box to reveal a ring. He couldn't deny it was a beautiful one. Taking the ring out of the box he tossed it aside and looked at the ring from all sides, it was made of silver, with tiny engravings of runes etched in black all around its surface. Smiling softly he looked up at Magnus with questioning eyes, 

“It's a ring so that every pesky mundane who thinks they have a chance with you will know you are taken.” He explained, trying not to sound too condescending in sight of Alec's utter confusion. Damn Shadowhunters and their love of runes- they didn't even know what a ring symbolized.

“So,” Alec said, quite happily, as he tried to slip the ring on the middle finger of his left hand, finding it to be a little too small. Magnus did roll his eyes at that and gently pulled the ring off Alec's hand and slipped it on his fourth finger. Swallowing hard Magnus tried to smile, the ring looked perfect on Alec's finger, just as he imagined it would, and he was very glad Alec didn't know the full meaning of it because Magnus wasn't ready yet to take the plunge and propose properly, but he had to admit that seeing the ring on Alec's finger he was wondering what still held him back. “This is like an anti-mundane shield then.”

“Yes,” Magnus said with a slightly forced smile, trying to bring himself back to the present and keep things light before he made a complete fool of himself. “Because you refuse to wear a glamour!” Alec rolled his eyes, 

“I don't...” He started to explain, but Magnus didn't let him finish, 

“Will you wear it?” Alec looked down at his hand, his thumb running over the ring, it was lightweight enough that he didn't think it will annoy him too much, and it was on his left hand so it won't hinder him while handling a seraph blade. He briefly wondered if it will have any effect on his bowing but he decided he'd test it tomorrow. 

“Sure.” He said, flashing Magnus his gorgeous half-smile and Magnus felt his heart clench painfully in his chest. He was going to have to do this properly, and soon! “What about you?” Magnus frowned, looking down at his fingers, which were pretty much covered with rings and sighed, 

“I don't think I have room for any more rings.” He said, wriggling his fingers in Alec's face, who looked very amused, “You're just going to have to think of something else.” He concluded with a soft smile, when he lifted his head and saw the look in Alec's hazel eyes, 

“I already am...” And just like that all thoughts of whether he should propose for real or not flew out of Magnus' head and the sexy mode was back, full force. Leaning down again he captured Alec's lips with a hungry kiss, feeling the Shadowhunter's hands grabbing his hips forcefully and trying to bring him as close to Alec as humanly possible. “Bed... Now...” Alec growled deep in his throat, fun as the couch was it was not giving him enough room to do all the things he wanted to do to Magnus and definitely not enough leeway for Magnus to do all the things he wanted done to him. 

Magnus lifted his head, looking deep into Alec's eyes, taking in the way the pupils were blown huge with want and the way his chest was heaving with it. With a soft smile he lifted his hand and created a portal right next to them, and bringing it over with a snap of his wrist to engulf them both. Alec's mouth dropped open in shock and a second later he found himself on the bed, with Magnus still in his lap. His shock quickly morphed into an amused chuckle as the portal's magic died around them, 

“I can't believe you just portaled us from the living room to the bedroom...” Now it was Magnus' turn to growl as he grabbed the hem of Alec's T-shirt and pulled it over his head in one swift motion, 

“Need you, now!” He said, his voice hoarse as his hands were already roaming Alec's bare chest. Alec found he was fighting a fit of giggles, not even sure what had brought it on- it was probably the intensity in Magnus' eyes that made him want to take a step back and breath for a second while at the same time he wanted nothing more than to be consumed by those eyes and let Magnus do whatever he wanted to him. With a quick snap of Magnus' fingers they were both naked, and Magnus pushed Alec back to lie flat on his back while he shimmied his way down his body, kissing and nipping. “Turn on your stamina rune!” He rumbled against Alec's skin, 

“I don't know where my stele is...” He said, his voice breathless with laughter and want, and Magnus raised his head from his very promising exploration of said rune with his tongue and narrowed his eyes. Closing his eyes for a brief moment to enable him to concentrate without seeing all that skin and tight muscles under him and snapped his fingers again and Alec's stele appeared on his chest. Still laughing breathlessly Alec took his stele and ran it over the stamina rune, his whole body trembling with excitement at what was to come. Rising again Magnus covered Alec's body with his, coming to kiss him hard, swallowing his little giggles and Alec opened his hand, letting the stele roll to the floor as he grabbed Magnus, bringing him impossibly close to him.


	3. Chapter III

Alec woke up the next morning with the sun filtering through the curtains and right into his eyes. Blinking a little he smiled when he found Magnus sprawled on top of him, his head on his shoulder and his arms and legs trapping Alec in place. It was as if Magnus was reluctant to let him start his day until he decided, and Alec found it endearing, but if he had to wait for Magnus to wake up naturally he'd be trapped here for half a day, at the least. Magnus was definitely not a morning person. 

Placing a soft kiss on the dark locks that were tickling his nose Alec started the slow work of untangling them both, just as he did every morning. A dull pain shot through the lower half of his spine and Alec smiled softly, guess the stamina rune wasn't quite enough last night... Finally managing to extract himself from Magnus he sat on the bed, feeling refreshed despite the fact they got hardly any sleep the previous night. Standing up he turned to look at his beautiful boyfriend, who now that Alec was gone grabbed his pillow in his sleep and curled himself around it instead. Alec smiled and turned to make his way to the bathroom when he painfully stepped on his stele. Wincing a little he bent down to pick it up, running it over his iratze rune to get rid of the two sources of pain. 

Once he was finished in the bathroom he walked over to the wardrobe, wondering briefly where Magnus had sent their clothes to last night, he really should ask one of these days- preferably before he ran out of clothes. Looking at the neat stacks of folded T-shirts and pants he shook his head fondly- Magnus thought he was being very sly and secretive when he slowly started replacing Alec's former black shirts with things that were colorful. Of course he stayed on the dark side of the spectrum, dark blue, dark green, deep brown and dark olive but Alec did notice, though to his own immense surprise he found he actually didn't care. Pulling out a charcoal shirt and a pair of black pants, he turned to the underwear drawer and started to get dressed. While he was doing that he was sneaking looks at the bed, watching Magnus starting to wake up- this was definitely one of Alec's favorite parts of the day. First there was the hand reaching over to his side of the bed, feeling around to make sure Alec was really gone, then came the denial. It was manifested as Magnus curling tightly around Alec's pillow, burying his face in it and refusing to acknowledge the world. This usually took some time, depending on how tired Magnus was. Alec couldn't help the smile on his face; Magnus was so cute like that. 

He was watching his beautiful boyfriend squirm around, noticing the blankets sliding lower on Magnus' body and turned around, breathing deep. He really needed to get to work and taking a quick glance at his phone he sighed in regret; they did not have the time for... anything, as regretful as the thought was. Grabbing a pair of socks Alec sat down heavily on the bed to put them on, when a warm body pressed against his back, and soft lips attached themselves to his neck. Automatically Alec tilted his head to give Magnus more room to work, humming softly in pleasure, all thoughts of the time slipping away, 

“Do you have to go?” Magnus' voice was still sleep rough and Alec felt a shudder running down his spine, and closed his eyes trying to recompose himself, 

“Unfortunately, yes...” He said, though his head fell on Magnus' shoulder, rubbing softly and trying to encourage Magnus further, “I have a meeting with my parents later...” Suddenly the warm pressure of Magnus' body and lips was gone, and Alec couldn't stop the soft moan of regret from escaping his mouth, 

“Way to kill the mood, Lightwood...” Magnus said softly, patting Alec's shoulder and Alec chuckled, 

“Sorry...” Turning around he captured Magnus' lips in a proper good morning kiss, doing his best to try and keep a clear head, though it was never easy when it came to Magnus. Magnus pressed himself against his Shadowhunter again, much to Alec's delight, his hand sneaking around Alec's body to find its way under Alec's shirt, feeling up the warm skin and tight abs. 

“Can't you call in sick?” Magnus asked softly, his head already full of ideas of how and where and he wanted his Shadowhunter. He was addicted to this man's body, there was no other explanation. Luckily, this was not the kind of addiction that needed rehab, and even if it was, he wasn't going to get any! 

“I wish I could,” Alec moaned softly, damn he knew he should have left before Magnus fully woke, there was no way he'd be able to leave the bed now... There was absolutely no way he'd want to, “But you know that would only make Izzy and Jace show up here to see what was wrong...” Magnus sighed and let his forehead drop on Alec's shoulder, 

“You already killed the mood once,” He reprimanded his boyfriend, “There's no need to stomp on the corpse.” Alec let out a clear and joyful laugh, feeling quite happy despite the fact Magnus was not likely to try seducing him a third time. Turning almost fully around he brushed a kiss on Magnus' forehead, doing his best to focus on Magnus' face rather than his naked body because that won't lead to anything good right now... 

“Will you come to pick me up for lunch?” He said, hoping a lunch time date will be enough to placate Magnus. He wasn't sure how much work Magnus had for the upcoming day but he hoped he'd be able to steal at least half an hour of his time. Knowing he had a meeting that included his mother and father later it was almost a necessity. 

“Of course.” Magnus said with a soft smile and pulled Alec for another kiss before he let his shadowhunter get up, and leave the room. Sighing in regret Magnus slumped back against the sheets and grabbed Alec's pillow again. This unholy tendency of his Shadowhunter to get up in those ungodly hours didn't mean he had to lose any beauty sleep. 

Alec walked into the institute, carrying a bagel and pinching little bites of the bread to put in his mouth. He barely had time to get a foot through the door when Isabelle came swooping down on him, looking tense, as she always did when she was about to deal with their mother, and Alec couldn't really blame her, 

“You've got food, you're an Angel sent! I'm starving!” She cried happily and tore a sizable chunk of Alec's bagel, popping half of it into her mouth in one go, 

“Hey, that's my breakfast!” He protested loudly and was about to try and grab the rest of what Isabelle stole but she wisely licked the bagel piece in her hand before he had a chance. She even had the audacity to smile at him around her full mouth. Alec narrowed his eyes at her and moved his hand to keep the rest of his bagel out of her reach. 

“I'm actually surprised to see you here this morning.” Isabelle said conversationally, a wide smile stretching her lips, 

“Why?” Alec asked, his eyes scanning the room, looking at all the people milling about looking busy. There was something quite comforting about seeing the institute buzzing with quiet hubbub of people doing their job. 

“Oh, come on, the look Magnus had in his eyes when we came back from Brazil?” Isabelle couldn't really contain her mirth, but it was true, Magnus looked like a man on a mission and his mission was to get her brother to the nearest flat surface as soon as possible, “I was sure you'd still be tied to the bed.” Alec looked down at her, raising an eyebrow, 

“Why would I be the one tied to the bed?” That certainly shut his nosy sister up! He didn't mind telling Isabelle everything she wanted to know, OK, not everything... Come to think of it- if she went to Magnus she'd probably get a lot more information... Nonetheless he found he was actually enjoying baffling her. Serves her right! 

“Be... Because, Magnus looked so... possessive...” Isabelle said softly, now not as sure as she was a couple of seconds ago. Damn you Alec, throwing me off my game like that! Alec looked down at his sister, suddenly feeling almost sorry for her, 

“He gave me this.” He said, showing Isabelle the ring. To his surprise her eyes lit up like stars, and she looked far too enthusiastic over a simple ring, 

“You got engaged?” She practically squealed, and Alec hushed her, dragging her over to a quieter corner, 

“What? No!” Isabelle looked quite crestfallen at that, 

“But a ring, nobody gives their partner a ring unless they plan to get engaged, Clary told me.” Alec wanted to roll his eyes, of course Clary told her! Clary and her mundane ways! Taking a deep breath Alec tried to compose himself, this wasn't Clary fault, she didn't even know about the ring, it was Magnus', with his weird and confusing ways and the fact that he didn't actually propose and the more Alec was thinking about it the more he wanted him to and this wasn't fair and now he was pissed!

“Yeah well, that's mundanes.” He practically spat. Isabelle looked at her brother, sensing something was amiss. Did Alec actually expect Magnus to propose? Did he really want to? Sure they've been together only for a few months but she knew damn well that Alec was never going to feel the same way about anyone else ever so time really meant nothing in their relationship. 

“You don't want to get engaged to Magnus?” She asked softly, she thought last night was all about sex, hours and hours of it, if she read the look in Magnus' eyes correctly, but this- this was bigger than that. Alec shrugged, 

“It's not that...” He started; feeling like he was completely out of a loop he didn't realize even existed until now. Taking a deep breath he turned to Isabelle, trying to plaster on a convincing smile, “What difference does it make? We can't get married anyway.” Isabelle felt her heart breaking for her brother, she knew him better than anyone, better even than Magnus did and she could tell he was not happy with any of this. Oh, wait until she got her hands on that warlock, toying with her brother's heart like that! 

“Yeah, but...” She started but Alec hushed her, 

“Leave it, Izzy.” He said hurriedly, but she wasn't going to let him brush her off like that, not this time, 

“Alec...” She started when he elbowed her hard; wincing in pain Isabelle finally turned her eyes from her brother to see their mother walking towards them purposefully. The two siblings immediately straitened up, not even aware they were doing so, 

“What are you two whispering about?” Maryse asked, her dark eyes turning from daughter to son and back. The two shrugged, 

“Nothing.” They replied in unison, causing their mother's eyes to narrow slightly, 

“Well then, let's get going, we've got a lot to discuss.” She said, turning around, her ponytail swishing like a whip on her back as she started making her way to the ops center, expecting Alec and Isabelle to follow. Alec and Isabelle looked at each other, stuffing the last of the bagel into their mouths before they turned to follow. Though when Isabelle saw the flash of silver on Alec's finger she quickly grabbed his hand and cast a glamour on the ring. She had a feeling their mother will not be pleased and it was really too early in the day to fight with her. Alec gave her a grateful smile and the two made their way to the ops center join the others.


	4. Chapter IV

Alec was barely listening to what was going on around him. He had his hands behind his back, the fingers of his right hand twisting and turning his ring around. He tried to make sense of the whole thing. Did Magnus really just mean for this ring to distract mundanes from hitting on him? Because if he did... That was insulting, Alec decided. Because it meant that Magnus was using Alec's lack of knowledge in mundane ways against him. How did Magnus think he'd get away with this? Surely he knew how much Clary and Isabelle talked to each other and how much he and Isabelle talked. 

He tried not to think about engagements, of any sort, knowing that if he let himself truly think about it he'd get depressed, because why the hell not? After all, despite the fact they couldn't officially get married there was nothing stopping them from being engaged, and letting the whole world know that Magnus was his and he was Magnus' was something he was not averse to, quite the opposite. Alec never thought he would feel this way one day and although it took him quite a while to actually admit to himself that he could be with someone like Magnus, once he did he never looked back. He was a one man man and his man was Magnus Bane and this was really starting to mess with his head!

Alec snapped back to reality when he heard Magnus' name coming out of his mother's mouth, or rather her usual disdainful 'Mr. Bane', 

“What was it about Magnus?” He nearly barked at his mother, sensing he was not about to like what she had to say, because so far she rarely had something to say about Magnus that he liked. Maryse gave her son a disapproving glare, she had noticed he was spacing out alright and she didn't like it, this was not a behavior suitable for the head of the institute, even if everyone present was family. And Clary. 

“The Clave has agreed that Mr. Bane is no longer suited for this institute’s needs.” Alec glared at her in shock, where the hell did that come from? 

“What the hell?” Isabelle cried, tossing a glance at her brother and seeing the shock on his face, this was not happening! 

“Magnus is the most powerful warlock around, we need him.” Clary said, tossing in her two cents in the matter. Even if Magnus wasn't dating Alec she was still going to defend him- he was always kind to her and she was not going to let him suffer. 

“Nevertheless, the Clave decided this institute will benefit from a warlock that doesn't have... a conflict of interests. There are other warlocks around here that will suit the institute just fine.” Maryse said, her head raised high though she didn't look directly at her eldest, knowing he was fuming. 

“This is bullshit!” Jace cried, slamming his fist into the console around which they stood, causing the hologram that was showing on it to waver, “How did the Clave even come to discuss this?” Maryse clenched her jaw and everyone suddenly realized just exactly how the Clave came to discuss such an issue. Isabelle looked at her father with disbelieving eyes- she expected as much from Maryse, but from Robert? 

“The point is,” Robert said quietly, trying to calm the room down before the entire institute gathered to hear their talk, “The Clave's decision is final.” Isabelle glared at her traitor father in disgust and turned to Alec, 

“Alec!” She cried, trying to snap her brother out of his shock. Alec crossed his arms firmly over his chest, looking from one parent to another before he spat, his jaw clenched tight, 

“Is that all?” Robert glanced at his wife, who was still looking straight ahead, refusing to budge an inch and nodded once. With that Alec turned on his heel and marched away, the anger making his blood boil. He knew he didn't have much time before Isabelle, Jace and Clary followed him but he closed his office door behind him anyway. He needed to think, he needed to figure out what he was going to do, this was... this was so thoughtless of his parents! If they wanted to separate him and Magnus this was not the way! This was so petty, and beneath everyone and he wasn't sure whether his parents considered what this action might cause to Magnus or if they simply didn't care who they crushed in their path to get their way. 

“What the fuck just happened back there?” Alec turned and sighed, not even sure how to answer Jace's question as he watched him, Isabelle and Clary piling into his office, each looking more annoyed than the other. Isabelle came to stand in front of Alec's desk, leaning against it menacingly and glaring at her brother as if any of this was his fault, 

“So, that's it?” Alec shrugged, 

“What do you want me to say?” He asked, surprising himself at how calm his voice sounded even though he was mad as hell. Isabelle shook her head in disgust, 

“How about this is bullshit and you won't do it?” Behind her back Alec could see Jace and Clary nodding and he sighed, rubbing his hands over his eyes, 

“This is not that simple,” He started slowly, trying to gather his thoughts, “I don't want to start a war with the Clave.” Isabelle snorted, turning around and crossing her arms as she went to the sofa and slumped on it, looking murderous. 

“That's fucked up man,” Jace cried, waving his arms around, “You know damn well the Clave doesn't give a shit who you sleep with, it's just our parents being...” Alec cut him off before he got too carried away, 

“It is the Clave's business now!” He said, trying very hard to get this through his siblings' thick skulls. He was truly grateful that they were all enraged for him and Magnus' sake but after what their parents did, this became a whole lot bigger than just him and Magnus and he, as head of the New York institute had the responsibility to see that and act accordingly. “They made it the Clave's business.” 

“So that's it? You're going to fire Magnus?” Isabelle sounded truly disgusted and Alec had a feeling that if he said yes right now, this would be a breaking point in his relationship with his sister and even if he was considering doing what his parents wanted him, which he in no way was!, he wasn't about to hurt his relationship with Isabelle as well. 

“No! I don't know what to do.” He confessed, and the three of them looked at him in shock, this was not what they expected or wanted to hear. If it was up to either one of them they'd raise hell and deny the Clave, no matter the consequences, which was probably why neither of them was sitting where he was. “I need to think...” If that was meant to get them out of his office, it was clearly not the way, as no one showed any signs of leaving, but Alec didn't put much faith in this strategy anyway. 

“I thought your mum was OK with you and Magnus, why now?” Clary asked, and the others exchanged an uneasy look, each having their own theories on the matter. 

“I bet she just waited, biding her time until things got quiet,” Isabelle said, her voice dripping with venom directed at their mother, “I just can't believe she dragged dad into all this, probably playing the guilt card over his affair to get him to side with her.” Jace nodded, this sounded pretty plausible. They all knew Maryse wasn't happy with Alec's choice of partner, no matter how thinly she tried to veil it. It seemed Max's rune party at Magnus' had quite the opposite effect on Maryse than Alec had intended, but while the war was raging on she had far more important things to do than try and break her son and his warlock up. Too bad the war was over then... “Well, they can't do anything anyway, not now that you two got engaged!” 

“Izzy!” Alec cried out in horror. He didn't wholly trust his sister to keep this under wraps but he at least expected her to keep her mouth shut long enough for him to figure things out himself. Isabelle turned to her brother, her eyes wide and her hands flying to cover her mouth, but of course it was too late, 

“You guys got engaged last night?” Jace said with a soft leering smile, “I knew something good happened, I could feel it.” Alec let his head hit the desk loudly, his face burning with shame; oh this was definitely not how he saw his day progressing... And to add to his utter humiliation he heard Clary giggling, 

“It's true, he did...” Isabelle wasn't sure what to do, it was her blunder, so she was supposed to fix it but somehow she had a feeling that anything she might say was going to make things worse. “Did Magnus give you a ring?” Clary asked joyfully, completely ignoring Alec's humiliation or Isabelle's inner struggle. Alec lifted his hand, without bothering to lift his head and Isabelle quickly canceled the glamour she cast on his ring earlier. 

“We're not engaged.” Alec informed Clary, though in hindsight he probably should have told her that before showing her the ring because the look on the redhead’s face clearly spelled she didn't believe him. 

“This is great,” Clary chirped, “Finally a wedding you can enjoy.” Alec glared at her but she was too deep in her little wedding fantasy to notice, “How will such a wedding even work? I mean, can you rune Magnus?” Alec caught Jace's eye and the blond tried to explain, rubbing his forehead, 

“No, to anyone but shadowhunters a stele is just a stick.” Clary looked between the three, each looking uneasy and trying to avoid her eyes, they were not telling her something, 

“Then how...” Isabelle rolled her eyes, 

“They don't!” She snapped, still angry at pretty much everything that had happened since the meeting with their parents, “A shadowhunter and downworlder can't get married, the Clave won't allow it.” 

“Oh...” Clary seemed deflated; she certainly didn't expect this answer. She could live with a marriage ban due to gender- after all it wasn't that long ago that mundane gays couldn't get married either, but this? This was downright prejudice and... probably racism. Definitely racism. Man, the more she kept learning about the Clave the less she liked them. “Well, you can always have a commitment ceremony...” 

“What's that?” Isabelle's voice was still harsh but carried a note of curiosity, 

“It's what gay mundanes used to do before marriage equality,” Clary explained, “It's when you have a wedding but it's not actually recognized by the government.” 

“Then what's the point?” Jace asked, and Clary looked at the three shadowhunters around her. She hated when they all gave her that look, like she was crazy just because she grew up differently. They did this every time they encountered something about the mundane world they didn't understand and it still irked her. She wished Simon was here; at least he'd talk until they got fed up with him and forgot what he originally wanted to say... How the hell do you explain commitment ceremonies to these people? 

“It's... It's to show that love is going to win no matter what anyone says...” She said, fixing her eyes on Alec who seemed to be the only one who wasn't about to roll his eyes at her, probably because this was actually affecting him, “It's like an act of rebellion.” She finished lamely, feeling the weight of their gazes and wanting nothing more than to leave. Straightening herself up she tried to smile, “Um, come on Jace, we better get going, we're meeting Luke for lunch.” With that she turned to the door, grabbing her boyfriend's arm on the way out and practically dragged him behind her, eager to leave. 

“Clary,” She stopped on her tracks and turned to face Alec, who was looking her straight in the eye, “Thank you.” Clary smile, genuinely this time. It was kind of their thing, hers and Alec's and while she would never be as close to him as she was with Isabelle, and definitely not as close as she was with Jace, they still managed to find a sort of middle ground for their relationship, and 'thank you' was a big part of it. 

Jace opened the door and almost walked into Max, who was on the other side, giving his little brother a cheeky smile he ruffled the boy's hair, 

“Hey there little buddy.” He said as he and Clary walked around him and left down the corridor, leaving Max to walk into his brother's office.


	5. Chapter V

“I was just walking past...” Max said as soon as the door closed behind him, earning himself a pair of fond head shakes from his older siblings, 

“Meaning you stood by the door and activated your hearing rune.” Isabelle said with a roll of her eyes and Max simply shrugged, he was too old for making up excuses for his actions, and if his siblings thought he was still too young to know what they were talking about it was their problem. 

“You and Magnus got engaged?” He asked Alec as the three came to sit on the black sofa, and Alec sighed, wondering how to explain this to Max when he wasn't sure himself what was going on,

“I'm... It's complicated.” He told his brother, because it was true, and it meant he didn't have to go into too many details. Max looked from Alec to Isabelle, taking in their uncomfortable expressions and decided to change tactics. As much as he loved being on top of the rumor mill something was off here. 

“Can I see the ring?” He asked instead, his eyes sparkling and Alec smiled, it was really nice to see Max getting excited about all this, especially after the way he acted towards Magnus and their relationship in the beginning, but since Max had joined them in the institute permanently the two had a couple of long talks and Alec realized Max’s behaviour was mostly because his poor brother felt completely out of the loop- he's been forced to miss Alec's wedding to Lydia and got all the aftermath in the shape of arguments between their parents. But since Max met Magnus, and the two bonded properly (without Maryse poisoning Max's mind against Magnus) he had become very supportive and for that Alec was grateful. He wasn't planning on starting a war with his mother on the subject of his relationship, but it seemed Maryse had decided to do that on her own, and while she could guilt and force his dad to side with her he had Isabelle and Max on his side of their free will, and they were definitely valuable allies. He showed Max the ring, letting his siblings gush over it properly. He still wasn't entirely sure how he felt about the whole thing to be honest. He was angry at Magnus for being so vague about the whole ring situation, and that made him feel like he didn't really have the right to show off his ring to anyone, but Magnus did give him the ring, regardless of his true intentions so technically he was allowed to do whatever he felt like doing with it. It was all very confusing and it made Alec edgy and worse, resentful towards Magnus, and he hated it. 

“These are all protection and health runes.” Max said in slight wonder and Isabelle nodded, it was the first time she had a chance to really study the ring and she just wanted to hug her brother tight, knowing this was killing Alec. The fact that Magnus was thoughtful enough to study their runes when he created the ring meant it was not some sort of half-hearted gesture and Isabelle was starting to get angry herself at Magnus for not asking her brother to marry him. “Did you give Magnus a ring too?” Isabelle snapped out of her thoughts at Max's question, and saw Alec shaking his head softly, 

“No, he says he has too many rings and that I need to think of something else to give him instead.” He told his brother and Max nodded, his brow furrowing with thought. It always made Alec smile, seeing that look of concentration on Max's face, ever since he was a baby he had this expression and it never ceased to be cute. 

“Alec, I'm really sorry...” Isabelle said, her voice almost breaking, realizing now how much pain her hasty words caused Alec. Alec shrugged, 

“It's OK, it doesn't matter.” He told his sister. Would things have been easier if Isabelle hadn't told Clary and Jace he was engaged? Yes, definitely, especially when he knew the rumor was about to spread like wildfire once Clary and Jace got to the 'Jade Wolf'. But it wasn't really Izzy's fault; it was Magnus' so he couldn't really be mad at her. 

“Well, he's definitely going to ask you now...” She said with a wide smile, she didn't think for one second that Magnus didn't want to marry her brother, it was just that the warlock wasn't really thinking- and judging from the look he had in his eyes last night when they left Brazil she couldn't really blame him. It was a wonder he actually managed to create a portal in the first place... 

“Or leave me...” Alec meant it as a joke but the look on Isabelle's face told him he went a little too far, 

“Don't even joke about this!” She hissed at him and Alec wrapped his arm around her, squeezing tight. Izzy was there, that night when he and Magnus... When Magnus... The night Max almost died. After the elevator doors closed Alec just stood there, his mind a complete blank, refusing to acknowledge what had just happened. When Isabelle came out of Max's room minutes later she saw him there and immediately grabbed his arm and guided him to his room, not knowing the details but sensing something very bad had happened. She got Alec as far as his bed when the shaking started and when Jace burst into the room, his hand on his parabatai rune Alec broke down completely, the two of them holding him tight. Later Jace had told her that he had never felt that level of pain from their rune before, and he had honestly thought Alec was dying. 

The next morning things got even worse, if that was possible. Alec did his Alec thing and completely shut off all emotions, burying himself deep in work and refusing to talk about anything that had to do with what had happened. Luckily the whole break up lasted less than a week but Isabelle truly didn't think that Alec would survive another break up, especially over getting engaged! 

“What about an ear cuff?” Both Alec and Isabelle snapped out of their thoughts, looking at Max, 

“What did you say?” Alec asked, looking at his brother with a small frown. Max rolled his eyes, he hated when people forgot he was in the room, sure it helped when he wanted to find out things the grownups didn't want to tell him but he still hated it. Especially when Alec and Izzy did it. 

“I said what about an ear cuff, instead of a ring, Magnus seems to like them.” Max said, looking at his older brother with a slightly worried expression. Why wasn't Alec happier about this? Sure his brother was never known as a very cheerful man, but even Max could tell he was a lot happier since he started seeing Magnus. And weren't people usually quite happy when they got engaged? Alec looked down at his baby brother and gave him a soft smile,

“Max, this is the best idea I've heard all day,” He said, his face beaming with pride and Max smiled wide, happy he was able to be useful. Isabelle also smiled; knowing how much Max valued Alec's opinion- to him a compliment from Alec was worth like ten compliments from anyone else. “Thank you.” The two brothers shared a fist bump, grinning at each other. Just then the door opened and in stepped Magnus, dressed to nines and looking stunning as ever. Isabelle glanced at her older brother and saw the way his eyes lighted and his whole body relaxed. It was so sweet that Alec didn't even know he was doing it, 

“Hello, Lightwoods.” Magnus breezily greeted the three, his eyes immediately locking with Alec's and Isabelle realized it was time to leave. Well, at least get Max out of the room before he witnessed things that were definitely not appropriate for his age group. 

“Come on Max,” She said as she rose to her feet, dragging Max behind her, “Let's go to the kitchen and see if there's any ice cream left.” Max rolled his eyes impressively; Izzy was treating him like he was five years old again. He knew she wanted to give Alec and Magnus some time alone to do whatever it was they did when they were alone- and Max had to admit he was kind of curious about that... 

“Izzy...” He complained loudly, “I'm too old to be bribed with ice cream!” Magnus stopped the boy with a hand on his shoulder, 

“Take it from me, young Maximilian,” He said with a grin, which Max returned, he actually liked it when Magnus called him Maximilian, like he called his brother Alexander. No one else did that. “You're never too old to be bribed with ice cream.” Magnus told his young friend, his voice completely serious before adding a small wink. He needed to keep an eye on Max, make sure he didn't grow up too fast, as shadowhunters tended to do. Max laughed brightly, joined in by Isabelle, and the two left the room, happy to go on their little ice cream mission. 

“Hello Alexander,” Magnus said happily as he plopped himself on the sofa next to his boyfriend. Alec gave him a soft smile in return and leaned in for a sweet hello kiss, which Magnus happily provided. “How did the meeting with your parents go?” Alec sighed and slumped back against the sofa, “That bad?” 

“Worse...” Alec said softly. It's been quite a harrowing morning for him and to be honest, he didn't really feel like talking about any of what had happened in the meeting or his inner turmoil, he just wanted to wrap his arms around Magnus and have his boyfriend kiss him until he forgot everything else. But he knew he had to talk to Magnus as soon as possible, because if Magnus heard about the Clave's decision from anyone else... “My parents petitioned to the Clave to have you removed from your position in the institute.” Magnus raised an eyebrow, 

“What?” This was certainly not what he expected to hear. Poor Alec, no wonder his morning was horrible, “You're firing me?” Not that he actually needed the institute job, after all the Clave wasn't known for their awfully generous pay, but the fact that Alec's parents actually went and smeared his good name in front of the Clave just because he was dating their son did sting, quite hard. 

“No!” Alec said quickly, before Magnus got too offended, “I'm informing you.” He said honestly, looking straight into Magnus' eyes and hoping to convey to him that none of this came from him, “I... I don't know what to do...” 

“Hey, it's OK, we'll figure it out.” Magnus said softly, his hand reaching for Alec's. He could see the pain in Alec's eyes and wanted nothing more than to hex Maryse and Robert for doing this to their son. How could they possibly put Alec in this position? Both as their son and as the head of the institute. Letting him fire his own boyfriend? That was cold. Wrapping his free hand around the back of Alec's neck Magnus pulled him in for a kiss. Alec reciprocated gladly, because no matter what was going on with his parents or his own thoughts this was exactly what he needed right now.


	6. Chapter VI

A loud cough caused the two of them to separate hastily, and they turned to see Maryse and Robert standing at the door, with sour expressions. Alec jumped up from the sofa, still feeling like he did something wrong, as whenever his parents saw him and Magnus together. Somehow it was a lot easier to defend their relationship to his parents when Magnus wasn't around, 

“Mum, dad, I thought you went back to Idris...” He breathed out, hoping he didn't look too messed up and tried to smooth his hair without being too obvious. Magnus wanted to roll his eyes, seriously, how could Alec who was so suave and in control of himself in any given day turn into such a... a Simon the second his parents walked into the room? 

“We are about to leave.” Robert said, looking sadly at his son. Though he still didn’t fully understand why his son would chose a downworlder as a lover- after all, if men was what Alec preferred he was pretty sure there were enough shadowhunters to choose from, and it would cause quite fewer problems in the long run. But he knew how much Magnus meant to his son, and he did see how much happier Alec was these days and he truly resented Maryse for doing this to them. But he messed up by having an affair, and now he was paying for it, in the worst possible way- turning against his own son. 

“Mr. Bane,” Maryse stated coldly, and Magnus raised an eyebrow, clenching his jaw with anger. Taking a deep breath he leaned back against the sofa, crossing his legs and projecting an air of nonchalance to the room, and in general looking like he belonged there, far more than Maryse did as a matter of fact, 

“Maryse,” He replied, he was not about to give this woman the respect of calling her 'Mrs. Lightwood', she did not deserve it!

“I'm sure Alec informed you of the latest Clave decision.” She said coldly, her dark eyes locked with Magnus', both trying to undermine the other with baleful glares, 

“He has.” 

“Then I fail to see what you are still doing here.” Maryse's voice was dripping with venom and Alec felt like all the air was sucked out of the room by the sheer hatred in her eyes, all of it directed at Magnus, 

“Mum, enough!” He cried, raising his hands as if to physically stop her verbal attacks on Magnus. This was truly unfair, after all Magnus' only crime here was being with Alec. If she wanted to be angry at someone it should be him, not Magnus. 

"Alec, what's that on your finger?" Robert asked surprised, and Alec realized he forgot about the ring. And now his parents saw it, and put two and two together and… "Are you two…" Before Alec had time to react Maryse shook her head, her long ponytail swishing, 

"Absolutely not!" She cried, crossing her arms over his chest, causing Alec to bristle like an angry cat, 

"How interesting that you chose to use mundane engagement symbols… Is that how warlocks do it?" Robert said softly, almost to himself as neither his wife nor his son were listening to him, their eyes locked in a staring match- Alec's face stormy while his mother managed to keep her stoic expression, years of dealing with the Clave allowing her to win this one over her son.

"Excuse me?" Alec's voice dropped dangerously low, "You can't tell me what to do. I'm old enough to make my own decisions!" 

"Clearly not." Maryse snapped and Alec was floored. After everything he's been through it came down to this? Taking a step back he folded his arms over his chest, finding his ground once again, planting his feet firmly on the floor as if that was what was going to stop his mother, because it did feel to him like he was fighting a tidal wave and he was trying his best not to let that wave of hatred wash him away. 

"But I was old enough to marry Lydia?" He really didn't want to bring Lydia into all this, she was too good to be having her name tainted by Maryse, but Alec had no choice, his mother was way out of line. 

"I never wanted you to marry the Branwell girl." Maryse said flatly, and Alec bristled even more. It took all his effort to stop himself from trying to slap his mother, because he sure as hell wanted to! 

"No, you wanted me to marry anyone who could restore the Lightwood name," He spat venomously, "A name you two dragged through the mud to begin with!" 

"Alec…" Robert said softly, not sure how to defuse the situation. It was always a risk when Maryse and Alec clashed heads because they were so alike and Robert, who always found himself playing peacemaker, learned a long time ago he really wasn't much good at it. Alec snapped out of his staring contest with his mother and looked at his father, 

"You both need to leave." He said quietly, executing all the authority he had as the head of the institute although his jaw was clenched tight and he refused to look directly at either parent. Robert nodded and put his hand on Maryse' elbow gently, but his wife pulled her arm away in anger, turning on her heel and striding out of the office, her back ramrod straight. Robert briefly closed his eyes, bracing himself before he left as well. 

As soon as the door closed behind his parents Alec stumbled back, all fighting spirit gone. He felt like he was pushing against an unmovable rock with all the strength he had and suddenly someone removed the rock and he was left stumbling. Magnus jumped up to catch him, knowing how much Alec hated fighting with his parents and how much it hurt him. He carefully led the stunned man to the sofa, sitting him down softly. Alec let his head drop on Magnus' shoulder; feeling completely drained of energy all of a sudden and closed his eyes. 

"Hey," Magnus said softly, almost whispering in Alec's ear, "Let's go get lunch." Taking a deep breath Alec lifted his head and looked at his boyfriend, 

"Can you take me somewhere nice?" Magnus looked at Alec frowning a little, he wasn’t sure if Alec was trying to play coy or if he was too confused by the whole fight with his parents to think straight, 

"That's kinda the idea…" Alec shook his head softly, 

"No, I mean…" Rubbing his forehead he got to his feet, holding his hand to Magnus, "I'm not coming back here today." He said with a tone of finality. He could handle whatever paperwork that came his way tomorrow and if there would be an emergency he could portal from wherever he was so there was no need for him to be in the institute, and he really, really didn't want to be in the institute right now. "Can we go someplace and just… do something fun?" Magnus gave him one of his soft, highly amused smiles, coming to stand in front of Alec and adjusting the collar of his jacket lovingly, 

"Well, I'm glad you weren't vague about what you want…" Alec let out a soft chuckle, feeling better already, and Magnus placed a soft kiss on his lips, before turning and brandishing his hands,opening a portal in the middle of Alec's office, "Let's go." He said, offering Alec his hand.


	7. Chapter VII

Sensing that Alec needed comfort and familiarity over exotic and wild Magnus portaled them both to Central Park. They spent their afternoon walking around, hand in hand through the park, letting the magical winter land that was central park in full winter mode work its magic on them. Magnus even conjured a scarf for his shadowhunter, because of course Alec didn't have one and really there was no need to catch a cold, even if you could cure it with an iratze. They ate their lunch in a small café they stumbled upon once it got too cold to keep walking- laughing and shivering as they entered the place and its welcoming warmth, and in general just had the most mundane romantic afternoon and if Magnus hadn't witnessed the collision between Alec and his parents back at the institute he could probably fool himself that nothing was out of sorts. 

But he could see the way Alec was pulling back, doing his 'thing' and retreating into himself, wrapping himself with the mental walls like a cloak. Magnus had been alive for a very, very long time, and during his years he's witnessed all forms of hate, be it to skin color, religious beliefs, sexual preference or gender and even had that hate directed at him, quite a lot more than he wanted to admit, and he learned to cope- mostly by learning to trust only himself. But Alec wasn't like that, Alec needed anchors, he needed people he could trust and those people were his family. Isabelle, Jace, Max and unfortunately for Magnus- Maryse and Robert, Alec trusted them all. His beautiful souled Alexander was like a baby bird, only beginning to learn he could fly, still taking short trips out of the familiar nest, only to have that very nest turn against him. It made Magnus' blood boil, how dare they do this to their own son? But Magnus had managed to strip Alec of his mental cloak and see the real him before, and he was a patient man, he'd do it again and again, as much as he needed to show his Nephilim he was worth being loved and cared for. 

Right now they were lying together on the sofa back in the loft, kissing softly. It wasn't a sex thing, it was a comfort thing and Magnus had to admit he loved it. He missed it! He loved the way Alec’s and his bodies fit so well together, the way Alec's strong arms were wrapped around him, holding him tight as if he was afraid Magnus would slip away if he let go of him. Though Magnus wasn't planning on going anywhere, why would he? He had everything he needed right here. His hand slipped under Alec's shirt, caressing the warm skin and tracing his fingers over the runes he knew by heart. It was a bit of an awkward angle, since he was lying mostly on top of Alec, which left him with a lot less skin and abs to work with than he would have liked, but he was definitely not complaining. Alec shifted slightly and rubbed his crotch against Magnus' thigh and Magnus realized their lazy make-out session was quite rapidly shifting into a more sexy territory and smiled against Alec's mouth. Letting his hand drift down Alec's abdomen towards his belt he felt his shadowhunter's soft moan more than heard it. 

A loud knock on the door startled them both and it took them a couple of seconds to come back from their little bubble to reality. Alec took a deep breath, letting his head fall back against the arm rest of the sofa, closing his eyes tight and trying to recompose himself. Magnus let out a soft growl, that was not really helping Alec concentrate and glared at the door, 

"If that's your annoying parabatai again, I swear…" He grumbled and Alec smiled, loving that Magnus was enraged by this, 

“At least he learned how to knock...” Magnus let out a sound that was halfway between a groan and a chuckle as he untangled himself from Alec's arms, standing up and snapping his fingers to make himself presentable before he walked to the door. Alec sat up, brushing his hand down his shirt trying to make it look less wrinkled, and then running it in his hair. Magnus opened the door and stepped back letting Jace, Clary, Luke, Simon and Maia pour into his loft. After the last person entered he made a show of looking both ways into his hallway, 

"What, you didn't stop by the DuMort to get everyone else?" He asked, his voice laced with sarcasm that earned him a soft sneer from Luke, 

"Sorry about that… We probably should have called first." The werewolf smiled at Magnus who shrugged, waving his fingers, 

"Actually your timing is perfect. Five more minutes and we wouldn't have let you in…" Luke shook his head, snorting with laughter. Even though Magnus was older than all of them, by quite a long way he was worse than a horny teenager when left alone with Alec. 

Meanwhile Clary, Simon and Maia zoomed in on Alec who was still sitting on the sofa, and plopped themselves around him. Alec gave Clary a questioning glance which she returned with a little smile; OK this cannot be good… 

"Oh my god, I can't believe you guys got engaged! Can I see the ring?" Simon gushed and Alec's glance turned into a glare, though he really should have expected this. He showed Simon and Maia the ring, realizing he couldn't really fight the whole engagement or no engagement thing anymore, "I always wanted to go to a gay wedding, this is going to be so much fun!" Alec wanted to roll his eyes and tell Simon he got it all wrong, but he never got the chance because Simon started babbling again, “I can just picture the two of you, all handsome in matching tux...” He looked over at Magnus, who was talking to Luke and Jace at the other side of the room, “Though maybe a tux would be too plain for Magnus, I mean the man loves color!” Suddenly Simon's eyes grew wide, “He could wear a dress! Oh my god, he could totally pull off a dress!” Alec's eyes grew wide in horror, but Simon was too busy tapping his chin and mentally measuring Magnus to notice. Next to him Maia looked like she was about to pull something trying so hard not to laugh and Alec wanted to shake her, make her do something to control that… that daylighter boyfriend of hers! “Not a white dress, though, green maybe? I don't know, he'd probably look too much like that chick from 'Wicked'...” 

“Simon!” Maia finally snapped, her voice breathless with suppressed laughter, “Stop talking!” Simon snapped his mouth shut, looking at the wide eyed stares both Alec and Clary were giving him and grinned sheepishly, damn it! He was doing it again, just saying whatever came to mind. How did other people managed to control themselves? Maia grabbed his arm, hauling him off the sofa before Alec decided to do something to shut Simon up himself, or worse, Simon started talking again and smiled apologetically at the shadowhunter, leading her wayward boyfriend away. 

“Are you also trying not to picture Magnus in a dress?” Clary asked as she looked at the warlock, her eyes thoughtful, 

“Doing my damned best...” Alec groaned softly. How the hell did it come to this? He really should ask Magnus to put up an anti Simon ward around the loft... Clary tilted her head to the side, still looking pensive when she suddenly snapped, 

“Damn it!” She cried, throwing her hands up, “It's not fair, Magnus would look good in anything!” Alec gave her a sideways glance before he carefully got up and made his way towards Magnus, Luke and Jace. He would not let himself be sucked into this! Halfway to his destination there was another knock on the door and Alec made a beeline to it. Unsurprisingly behind it were Isabelle, Max and Raphael. 

“What have you done?” Without so much as a 'hello' Raphael stepped into Alec's personal space, glaring up at the shadowhunter, looking mare seconds aways from baring his fangs. Alec took a step back, not even sure how to react, when Isabelle placed a hand on Raphael's arm, 

“Raphael...” She said quietly, but he ignored her, 

“How can you fire Magnus?” Raphael spat, looking completely enraged and Alec found it oddly comforting to have someone who was actually focused on the real issue here rather than on that stupid ring that didn't even mean anything! 

“I didn't fire Magnus!” He snapped back, he was not going to let anyone accuse him of such a thing- yes, his parents dropped this on him expecting him to do their dirty work for them, but he was going to fight it, for as long and as hard as he could. 

“Raphael, stop!” Isabelle pleaded, “This isn't Alec's fault, it's just our mother being a complete...” She was not going to say 'bitch', though she really wanted to, because she was raised better than that. Raphael shook his head, 

“This isn't about some petty feud your mother has with Alec, this is serious!” He said, by now gaining the attention of the whole room, “This affects everyone.” 

“What are you talking about?” Jace asked, his voice a little rough- he didn't like this assault on Alec any more than Izzy did. 

“He's talking about what firing Magnus will do to the downworld.” Luke said quietly, and everyone turned to look at him. Next to him Magnus sighed, trying to avoid eye contact with anyone. “This institute had always employed the strongest warlock around, and right now that's Magnus.” 

“If the institute decides to go with someone else it will weaken Magnus' position amongst his people and through that, the rest of the downworld. If this spread wide enough this could cause a war.” Raphael finished darkly and everyone looked properly shocked. Alec looked at Magnus, how the hell did he not think of that? He was so focused on not wanting to hurt his relationship with Magnus that he didn't even think how wide the ripples of his parents action will spread. This was bad! Without even realizing it he was walking over to Magnus, slipping his hand into Magnus' and squeezing their fingers tight together. 

“What do you suggest I do?” He asked, directing the question mostly to Raphael and Luke. Maybe the whole 'wisdom of crowds' will work here. He sure as hell hoped it will because right now he was just about to suggest taking Magnus and go hide somewhere. Maybe an island... Magus could probably afford to buy a small island nobody cared about or knew the location of... 

“Why don't you quit?” Alec shook himself out of his island fantasy to look at Maia, as did everyone else. The werewolf girl suddenly found herself the center of attention and gave a rather uncomfortable smile, but she prattled bravely on, “If the Clave or your parents, whichever don't want you and Magnus working together, just quit and then Magnus could keep his job and position. There won’t be a conflict of interests anymore.” Alec opened and closed his mouth, trying to wrap his brain around what Maia suggested. He felt Magnus' fingers squeezing his and turned to look at his boyfriend, 

“Alec, this is...” Turning his head to look at his sister Alec's eyes grew wide at the smile Isabelle gave him, “This is a brilliant idea!” Suddenly Alec understood what his sister meant, 

“Izzy, that's evil...” He said softly, and her smile only grew wider. This actually wasn't a bad plan, because not only will it allow Magnus to save his position it would also enrage his parents in ways that Alec couldn't hope to achieve on his own. After all, what Robert and Maryse drilled into their children's heads all their lives was how important the Lightwood name was, and how much it deserved to be on top, which Alec did by becoming the head of the New York institute and right now he had no qualms about throwing it all to hell, not after what his parents tried to make him do. Smiling back at Isabelle he turned to the rest and declared loudly, “I officially quit my position as head of the institute.” Everyone cheered loudly except Jace who looked pissed as hell and glared at Alec, 

“No!” He cried, trying to stump down on the celebrations, “No, this is not a brilliant idea at all!” 

“Jace, what is your problem?” Clary asked, looking at her boyfriend in shock. Surly Alec's parabatai, of all people, will be on his side. 

“If Alec quits who do you think is going to be the head of the institute?” He cried, looking wide eyed at the room. “Need I remind you all what a disaster it was the last time?” Everyone looked somewhat uncomfortable and Maia's hand flew to the back of her neck, remembering the tracking chip. Jace looked almost pleased with himself even if he just trashed his own reputation. He had no illusions about his short lived stint at the top- he hated it and he was bad at it and this job was clearly perfect for Alec, and while he got the whole 'saving my boyfriend' thing he felt a little hurt that Alec chose Magnus over him. Again. 

“God Jace, this isn't forever, it's only until your mum comes round and stop hassling Alec and Magnus!” Clary snapped, quite irritated at Jace's childish attitude and refusal to see the big picture, 

“You don't know Maryse, this could take forever!” Jace snapped back and Clary was a little shocked to see the same half guilty expression on Alec, Isabelle and Max's faces. Rolling her eyes she grabbed Jace on the lapels of his jacket and turned him to her, 

“Just suck it up and do it!” She hissed at him and Jace could feel the whole room trying their best to look at anything but the two of them, hell he tried to look anywhere but at Clary but her eyes bore into his and he knew he lost. Throwing his hands up he turned to Alec, anger evident on his face, 

“Fine! But you are staying as my second and you're doing all the work, decisions, everything!” He told his parabatai, his finger pointing at Alec, who looked quite amused, “I'm just the pretty face of the place, got it?” Alec bit his lip and nodded, 

“So basically things stay the same. I’m still doing all the work...” He said, unable to let the opportunity to poke fun of Jace slip by. Jace glared at him for a moment, and Alec found he was having a really hard time trying to stop himself from smiling. He reached his hand to Jace, who took his time but eventually stepped forward and shook it forcefully, the two pulling into a hug to seal the deal. 

“Well, I guess this calls for a toast.” Magnus said happily, quite relieved the whole situation was sorted. Ever since they left the institute he was worried, both for himself and for Alec. Of course he realized straight away what Maryse actions meant, but he didn’t have the heart to upset his boyfriend even more. He was mighty glad Raphael was the one who took it upon himself to be the level headed one and tell the shadowhunters the truth. And he was even happier with Maia’s nifty little solution. Waving his hand in a flashy pattern the coffee table was suddenly covered in champagne flutes. Seven of them filled with sparkling, golden champagne, two with deep crimson blood and one with orange juice. Everyone turned to grab a glass, though Max tried to sneak in one of the champagne flutes before Isabelle caught him and handed him his juice with a soft shake of her head, 

“To the new head of the New York institute,” Magnus called joyfully and everyone raised their glasses, smiling at Jace, who tried to look miffed but not someone like Jace Herondale was going to shy away from attention for too long. 

“And to Alec and Magnus' engagement!” Simon cried joyfully and suddenly the room went dead quiet, everyone looking very uncomfortable, “Oh no, what did I say now?” Maia patted his arm softly, too tired to save Simon from himself again. Clary and Jace had told them all about Alec and Magnus non-engagement ring but Simon had been so caught up in the idea of the two of them getting married that he wasn't even listening, and now he only gone and stuck his foot in his mouth again. 

“To engagements.” Magnus said softly, trying to defuse the tension, but truly all he really wanted was for everyone to leave so he could talk to Alec alone, because he needed to explain a few things, the sooner the better.


	8. Chapter VIII

It took a while and a half-joking threat from Magnus to put up a ward against everyone but eventually the party disbanded. Right now Alec was lying in bed, wearing soft plaid flannel pajama bottoms and a ratty T-shirt that he was sure escaped Magnus' efforts to completely redo his wardrobe this long solely because it was light grey and in Alec's world that was considered a color. He was buried in his tablet, going over his mails and reading mission reports, because asking Alec Lightwood to abstain from work for more than half a day was apparently too much. Besides, work was a good distraction from his thoughts, and right now Alec needed that as much as he needed air. 

Magnus walked out of the bathroom, wearing a pair of silk orange sleeping pants with purple trimmings and a plain black tank top. His face was free of make-up and his hair was still slightly damp from his shower and fell softly around his face, free of gel or magic or whatever it was that Magnus used to get it up every day. 

"Alexander?" Alec hummed softly, his brow creased with concentration, trying to make sense of what he was reading. The more he read those reports the more he wanted to petition to the Clave to put in more grammar and syntax hours at the academy, because some of those shadowhunters' writing skills were downright abysmal! And these were standard mission reports, that followed very specific guidelines, not some fancy literature! Magnus realized after a short while that he wasn't going to get his boyfriend's attention anytime soon so he climbed the bed and crawled over Alec, straddling his thighs and pulling the tablet from his hands, putting it on the bedside table. Alec, realizing his tablet was gone lifted his eyes and smiled warmly at the man sitting in his lap, a smile that wavered at the sight of Magnus' expression, "Alexander, I’ve changed my mind,” Magnus said, sounding grave, “About the ring." 

"Oh…" Was all Alec could say right now, this was unexpected, and frankly- hurtful. Sure it wasn't a proposal ring but in the day he's worn it he actually got quite attached to it. "Do… Do you want it back?" 

"Yes," Magnus said, his voice flat and his expression still pinched, like he was trying to hold himself back from saying something that would cause them both pain. Alec pulled the ring off his finger, trying to figure out what was wrong; did he say something he shouldn't have? Did he not say something he should have? Placing the ring in Magnus upturned palm he sighed, well it was nice while it lasted. "But only so I can do this properly." 

"I don't understand." Alec confessed. This whole situation was completely throwing him off, and he honestly couldn't tell where this was going. Magnus rolled the ring in his fingers, refusing to look straight at Alec. He could do it! He's spent the entire shower rehearsing the words he wanted to say, so why none of them came now? 

"I… I never...” Magnus stopped and took a deep breath, lifting his eyes to meet Alec’s worried gaze and gave his lover a small smile, “I've never had a proper family," Magnus said, lowering his gaze and fixing it on the ring again, and Alec placed his hands on Magnus' thighs, running them softly to comfort his boyfriend. He knew how much talking about his mother and stepfather hurt Magnus. "Over the years I took downworlders in need under my wing, made them my family and for a long time that was enough." Magnus lifted his eyes, looking directly into those gorgeous hazel eyes, which still held confusion but also so much love and smiled, "But you, you were always all about family, it's the most important thing in your life, and seeing you today defending me, defending us against your parents I realized I want to be a part of this, to be a part of your family." 

"Magnus…" Alec breathed out, his heart feeling like it was about to burst with the love he felt for this man, but Magnus held up his hand, needing to get things off his chest, 

"I should have done this a long time ago, definitely last night, and I'm really sorry I didn't," Magnus said in a rush, still swirling the ring in his hands, realizing he was babbling but unable to stop himself, "I guess I was just too… preoccupied, again I apologize…" 

"Magnus, stop!" Alec cried, because if he let his warlock go on and on there was no telling when it will end and frankly right now there was only one thing he wanted to hear from Magnus, "Just ask me, I promise I won't say no." Magnus sagged in relief; smiling softly, before he straightened again, his confidence and suave back in full force, 

"Alexander Lightwood, will you marry me?" Alec's smile could have lit up the whole room, the whole universe, Magnus thought, and he could feel his eyes smarting up, why the hell did he wait for so long? 

"Yes!" Alec breathed, grabbing Magnus' face and pulling him in for a passionate kiss which Magnus happily returned. This was incredible, this feeling of euphoria, Alec never thought this feeling actually existed and now he was practically overwhelmed with it and it was all thanks to that gorgeous man above him. He knew it was ridiculous, but it felt like the ring was lighter, that it fit better on his finger, that it was now absolutely perfect. When breathing became essential Alec pulled back and looked at Magnus, his voice kiss roughened and his eyes shining, “I want you to wear one too.” 

“I already told you, I have enough rings.” Magnus said softly but Alec shook his head, 

“If we are doing it the mundane way we are doing it right.” He insisted and Magnus rolled his eyes but without any real heat behind it. The idea of wearing a ring for his Alexander was actually quite exciting. Alec gave his boyfriend, no, his fiancé a stern look and held up his hand. Magnus sighed and started removing the rings from his left hand, placing them in Alec's palm, 

“How the hell can you even move your hand with all this weight?” Alec asked when Magnus was finished, weighing the rings in his palm. Magnus narrowed his eyes at him as he swirled his now naked fingers above Alec's palm, sending the rings back to his jewelry box, 

“They make my fingers and wrist stronger,” He said loftily, and then added with a small wink, “You of all people should appreciate it.” Magnus was rewarded with the adorable sight of Alec's cheeks pinking softly at the innuendo and he gave a satisfied smirk. Taking his ear cuff off he put it on Alec's palm, where his rings had been. It was a new cuff, one Alec had bought for him only this afternoon, instead of the ring Magnus claimed he didn't have place for. It was a simple one, a silver arrow that went diagonally over the shell of his ear. Magnus absolutely loved it, it was the sign of his archer. Now he waved his fingers over the cuff, creating a little blue dome of magic in Alec's palm. 

Alec looked, as the tendrils of magic dissipated, at the newly formed ring. It was silver, like the cuff had been and his own ring, with black etchings. Turning the ring around Alec saw it was an arrow, running along the ring, its head and tail almost meeting. Alec smiled softly when he realized the end tail of the arrow had the same style of fletching as his real arrows. Lifting his eyes he gave Magnus one of his happy smiles and took a deep breath, 

“Magnus Bane,” He started softly and Magnus found he couldn't erase the smile from his face, he's been alive for well over 400 years and he's never felt this giddy with joy. This man was definitely worth the wait. “Will you marry me, Alec Lightwood?” Alec's face was so earnest and open and Magnus felt his heart clenching, and his throat closing. He nodded, sniffling a little and Alec's grin broadened as he slipped the ring on Magnus' finger. Magnus looked at it, sitting there, marking him as a taken man and his eyes welled up. He was so scared of letting anyone into his heart, even before Camille, that he never even considered marriage. But this man, this angel who was so shy and sweet and so new to all of this was making him want to promise eternity or as close to it as he could and Magnus found he was loving this feeling. 

The two men looked at each other for a long moment, their whole world containing only the two of them and the happiness they were feeling when they both started laughing at the same time, not even sure why. Alec rose to grab Magnus in a kiss, lips still curved in a smile and flipped them over, blankets and all. Magnus suddenly found himself cocooned and he didn't like it because he couldn't reach Alec this way. Pushing Alec back a little he managed to free one arm and waved it around so that they were both now lying under the blankets, facing each other and still smiling. 

“I love this ring,” Alec said, his thumb running over the ring on his finger, “When did you make it?” Magnus could feel the smile slipping away, but he bravely tried to hold on to it, 

“It was... Um...” Alec looked up, catching Magnus' eyes, and seeing the way the happiness gave way to discomfort and sadness. 

“I'm sorry,” He quickly said, “I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable.” Magnus shook his head softly, 

“It's alright,” He took a deep breath, “I made it that night.” Alec felt his heart clenching painfully, that night... The night they... That night. Before he could say anything Magnus was talking again, trying to unburden as fast as possible to end this miserableness. “I wanted to be mad at you, to justify my actions but when I got here I realized I couldn't. Everything in this place reminded me of you, every furniture, every space.” Alec could feel his cheeks warming up slightly, it was no wonder every furniture reminded Magnus of them, especially after that weekend they practically 'christened' the whole place. But he knew it was more than that, because almost from the second he set foot in the loft it felt like home to him, much more than the institute had ever been. Coming back here after what happened must have been torture for Magnus, “I couldn't bear being here so I left, I spent the night in a hotel room with several large bottles of alcohol.” Alec squeezed Magnus' hand softly, 

“That was the worst night of my life too.” He said softly, and Magnus sighed, 

“At least you had Isabelle and Jace to pull you through. Turns out alcohol isn't the best companion for miserableness.” He hated that he resorted to a drinking stupor but then again, he did not feel like he could trust anyone that night. Being alone was hell, but at least no one told him he did the right thing by leaving. “I guess I made this ring to assure myself that we will find our way back to each other, someday.” 

“Magnus...” Alec breathed softly, blinking rapidly and doing his best to hold back tears, “I'm so sorry...” Magnus held up his fingers, pressing them softly to Alec's lips, shushing him up, 

“No, we're not doing this again.” He said firmly, “I just got engaged, for the first time in my life I might add, and I plan to celebrate that to the full. Will you join me?” Alec let out a small chuckle, trying to overcome his emotions and get on board with Magnus' plan. Celebrating their engagement was definitely something he wanted to do, right now. 

Magnus rolled them so that he was lying on top of his shadowhunter, snapping his fingers to make their clothes disappear, before claiming Alec's lips in a deep kiss, cutting the tall man's breathless laugh. Alec bent his knees, trapping Magnus between them as he tried to rub up against his fiancé, by the Angel he loved thinking that word. Fiancé, Magnus wasn't just his boyfriend anymore, or partner or mate, he was his fiancé and that meant everything to Alec.


	9. Chapter IX

The next morning Alec was determined to do things right. He gathered up the entire staff of the institute and informed them of the new regime change. Most of the shadowhunters gathered looked at him with a vaguely bored expression, the one that mostly spelled 'Do we really have to be a part of your weird parabatai thing?' but Alec decided he didn't care. News of this was going to reach Idris, and it was going to happen very soon and he wanted to be on top of things, at least from this end.   
The second thing he did was get a desk put in the office for his use. Jace argued that since he was only acting as the face of the institute Alec could very well stay at his old desk, the one that dominated the room, but Alec decided he wanted this done right. Jace might not know it, or care but he was going to be a little more than just a pretty faced poster boy. So his new desk was smaller, and to the side, but Alec found he actually liked it better. It was his desk, not his father's and not Aldertree's or even Lydia's. It was his desk and he could do whatever he wanted with it. Like putting up a picture of Magnus, well he was still contemplating that one- it seemed too cheesy, and made Alec’s cheeks flush when he thought about it.   
Throughout the day Alec was almost waiting for the inevitable backlash from his parents to his actions. He didn't think the Clave would approve an emergency portal for his parents to come all the way to New York just to yell at him but he was half dreading a fire message or any sort of message really. He stood firmly by his decision and he wasn't going to budge even if Maryse and Robert stormed into his office and… well, he wasn't sure what they could actually do but it was one of the very few times he's defied them so boldly, and once again Magnus was involved… No wonder his parents didn't like him… Alec shook his head softly, trying to rid himself of thoughts of his parents and focus on work.   
If Alec had hoped that the following days would be relaxed and productive he soon found out how wrong he was. All he wanted was to bask in his new status and enjoy his engagement, but it seemed outer forces conspired against him. First there was Jace, who in a true Jace fashion did his best to be as useless as possible. Alec could understand him, well no he couldn't but he knew his parabatai long enough to have expected this kind of behavior from him. Jace was the kind of person who did only what they wanted trusting they were the best and therefore untouchable to reprimands and sometimes even the law, and if they didn't want to do something, everyone was going to hear about it. And so Alec found himself wasting quite a lot of his day chasing Jace around for him to make announcements or sign papers only a week ago he could sign himself and be done with.   
There was also the fact that his parents hadn't contacted him in any way thus far. Alec knew he should be happy about this but he also knew his mother well enough, this was not a defeat, Maryse didn't fold and went to a quiet corner to lick her wounds- this was war and she was plotting anew how to hurt her son and all Alec could do was sit and wait for the next blow to land and the suspension was killing him. Of course it didn't help that Isabelle was even more worried than he was and kept expressing those worries to him.   
So instead of relaxing and enjoying Magnus and their engagement, Alec found he had almost double the workload and at least triple the stress. So far he managed to keep it away from home, ever since he moved in with Magnus he decided he was going to separate the two parts of his life as much as possible. When he was living in the institute it was impossible of course but the loft was his sanctuary and he was not going to contaminate it with worries of his job. Reading reports in bed was one thing, especially when he could sign them and send them their merry way, but now that he couldn't do that anymore he refused to take his tablet home with him. He needed to keep the institute afloat for as long as Maryse was going to fight him, and once he was back in his rightful chair he'd sort it all out again.   
He also decided he wasn't going to sink into work and forget himself again. Magnus had been patient and loving but even he had his limits, as Alec learned all too well during the war and he definitely wasn't going down that path again! So instead of staying late in his office he opted to finish his working day with a training session, not only to keep himself in shape, because he found he hardly had time to go on actual missions anymore, but also to tackle the worries of the day and leave them in the training room and not take them back home with him.  
His phone buzzed with an alert, startling Alec from his reading. He looked at the screen and sighed, they had a cabinet meeting tonight. He had to admit he was quite worried about this meeting- First of all, he hadn't had time to prepare Jace, who even under strict orders was a bit of a loose cannon and he couldn't tell what he'd say. It wasn't Luke or Raphael he was worried about, it was the seelies. Would they be insulted about not being formally informed of the changes in the institute leadership? Will they decide to leave the cabinet? It was a very likely possibility and Alec found he was already drafting an apology for the seelie representatives, as he dressed up. That was another thing; the Queen was known to play mind games with them and tended to send whoever she felt like at the moment to the meetings. And while Alec was pretty sure he could work quite satisfactorily with Maliorn, the rest of them were a complete mystery.   
Taking a deep breath he tossed one last look in the mirror, adjusting his collar and smiled softly- of course Magnus chose his outfit and Alec had to admit he looked pretty damn good. Walking to the entrance he met Jace, which he was very glad he didn't have to hunt down right before the meeting. Jace was even wearing a formal blazer, no doubt wrestled into by Clary. Alec realized he'd have to do something nice for the redhead, or at least thank her because if there was one person around that managed to keep Jace in some semblance of a line it was her.   
Luke and Raphael entered the institute; Luke smiled warmly at the two shadowhunters while Raphael gave them a curt nod. Alec greeted the two warmly but his attention soon drifted when Magnus walked in. He didn't even notice the three others rolling their eyes, or that Jace mentioned Luke and Raphael to move into the meeting room with amused smiles as Magnus made his way to Alec.   
“Did they leave because of me?” Magnus' eyes were wide with mock surprise, “Should I be insulted?” Alec chuckled softly, trying his best to school his features,   
“Definitely.” Looking around him to make sure there was no one around he leaned and placed a quick kiss on Magnus' lips, unable to resist. Whatever happened tonight he was glad Magnus was there.   
“I must say, you look very handsome, Mr. Lightwood.” Magnus said as he straitened Alec's tie and the taller man didn't even bother to fight the smile anymore, “Whoever picked out your outfit is an absolute genius.”   
“That he is.” Alec agreed with a wide smile, “And may I add, you don’t look too bad yourself, Mr. Bane.” He loved the 'Mr.' game, he really did, but right now they didn't have time for it. The last thing Alec wanted was someone coming to look for them... He generously gestured Magnus into the conference room and followed.   
“Where's Maliorn?” Jace asked, slightly annoyed that he even had to be here, let alone lead this meeting. Alec shrugged,   
“I haven't seen him; we should wait a couple more minutes for him.” Jace wanted to roll his eyes, but instead gave a sharp nod. The five of them waited in silence for a minute before soft conversations broke around the table.   
“Hello gentlemen.” The five men turned sharply at the sound of the soft, feminine, almost childlike voice of the seelie Queen. They all scrambled to their feet and watched as she made her way through the room, accompanied by four seelie knights in full armor. The Queen sat herself regally in her chair and nodded her head, indicating they were all to follow. Everyone took their places again, except Alec who opted to stand behind Jace, his hands clasped behind his back,   
“Your highness,” Jace said, “This is quite a surprise.” The Queen gave him a sweet smile, one that never reached her eyes,   
“I had to come and see for myself if the rumors were true,” She said, “And I see that they are, you are the new leader of the New York institute.” Jace nodded sharply,   
“I am.” The Queen moved her eyes to Alec, who clenched his jaw and refused to look at her directly,   
“Giving up your position for your boyfriend, how noble.” She simpered, her voice flat but the sarcasm evident. Alec swallowed hard and turned his eyes to her,   
“Magnus isn't my boyfriend,” He informed the Queen, casually moving his hands to his front, displaying his ring proudly, “He's my fiancé.”   
“Mundane rings, how interesting.” The Queen observed, turning her eyes to Magnus who had his hands clasped before him on the table, his ring clearly visible and his eyes glued to Alec. “I wouldn't get too attached to this one. In the end, shadowhunters will always choose their own kind.”   
“Excuse me, your highness!” Jace snapped at the Queen, barely keeping it civilized, “But this is my institute, not your court, and I will not have you insulting my people, or my guests!” Everyone present looked quite impressed with Jace, both for keeping it together and for telling the Queen off. Everyone that is, except the Queen who gave Jace one of her deadly smiles,   
“Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't it Clary Fairchild who chose you over the daylighter?” Jace clenched his jaw, his lip curling up with a sneer. Really? The Queen actually turned this whole thing against him? He should have known she wasn't interested in Alec and Magnus' relationship in the slightest. Feeling Alec's hand on his shoulder, his parabatai trying as hard as he could to push some calmness into Jace through their bond the blond took a deep breath, but before he could say anything else the Queen smiled at the room, “Well, I think this meeting is over.” She declared loudly, as if that was her place to do so, and rose from her seat. “Come.” She told her warriors and the seelie delegation made its way out of the room, leaving five shocked men behind.   
As soon as the seelies were gone Jace shook Alec's hand from his shoulder and stormed out of the room, no doubt heading for the nearest punching bag. Alec sighed and turned to the three other representatives, an apology already on his lips, but Luke shook his head at him as he rose from his seat, as far as meetings went this one was a complete waste, but as far as entertainment...   
“Come on,” He turned to Raphael, “I'll give you a ride back.” Raphael nodded and the two turned to leave, Luke placing a sympathetic hand on Alec's shoulder on his way out. Once the room cleared Alec quickly made his way to Magnus who was the only one left sitting at the table.   
“Magnus,” Alec nearly barked, his face etched with worry, “What the Queen said, it's not true.” He reached for Magnus who gave him a slightly bewildered look, as if he wasn't sure what Alec was talking about, “I will always chose you, you have to believe me!” Magnus rose from his seat and came to stand in front of his distressed shadowhunter, running his hands over Alec's arms,   
“I don't care what the Queen has to say.” He informed his fiancé with a soft smile, “I wasn't even listening to her. My brain kinda stopped working when you told her 'He's not my boyfriend, he's my fiancé'...” Alec bit his lip and closed his eyes briefly. He should have known Magnus was going to see this as an invitation for sex… It was the cabinet meetings, seeing Alec in such a formal and leading role always made Magnus horny. It was his little game to see how far he could take things and what he could make Alec do. So far, not too much…   
"Magnus…" Alec practically groaned, trying to maintain the last of his dignity, but he had to admit it wasn't easy, especially when Magnus stepped into his personal space and all but started to grind against him, "Let's go home…" He said hoarsely,   
"There's a perfectly good table right here…" Magnus hummed as he started placing soft kisses on Alec's deflect rune. Unfortunately this was not the right thing to say as Alec's eyes widened in shock and he took a step back from Magnus,   
"Magnus!" He cried, running his hand on the front of his jacket and looking around him frantically as if expecting the entire institute to choose this moment to come into the conference room and see them. Magnus rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest and looking at his fiancé with disappointment,   
"How is this any different from what we did in your office?" Alec could feel his face flushing with embarrassment, and maybe a little bit of heat as he remembered exactly what they did in his office, not too long ago even, and right on top of his father’s desk no less.   
"My office has a door!" He snapped, a little more harshly than he planned. Magnus gave him a look that spelled he wasn't much impressed with this excuse and then turned his back to Alec, working through the familiar pattern of creating a portal, before he grabbed Alec's arm and practically hauled him through it.


	10. Chapter X

The days following the cabinet meeting were tense. No one was sure what the seelie Queen will do or what her true feelings about what had taken place in the meeting were. And as she was, by nature, a very fickle being the entire shadow world was holding its breath. Everyone was mostly concerned the Queen might try some more of her mind games on Jace and Clary, and especially on Simon who she still resented that they managed to steal from under her nose. 

Magnus, however, couldn’t care less about the Queen’s silly little games, not when he had Alec’s sanity to worry about. The second in command of the New York institute was slowly falling apart and there wasn’t a damn thing Magnus could do to help. The constant stress of the job, coupled with the ever present dread and anxiety over what Maryse had in store for them was giving Alec nightmares. Magnus could do well without waking up in the middle of the night to a thrashing fiancé, Alec crying out in agony begging his tormentors to leave Magnus alone. After the second night he spent rocking Alec softly, whispering sweet nothings in his ear and trying to sooth his lover with soft calming magic Magnus decided he needed to do something- even if it was only contacting Isabelle and asking her to keep a closer eye on Alec and help him out. 

He would have loved to confront Jace over his lack of help but Alec still felt very guilty about putting Jace in this position to begin with so for now Magnus would lay off his fiancé's parabatai, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t make Jace’s life a little bit harder every time he saw the blond shadowhunter. A good warlock could do quite a lot without ever getting caught and Magnus was, after all, one of the best. 

Alec was sitting at his desk, trying to focus on what he was reading, and working very hard to stifle another yawn. Sleeping did not come easy these days and even coffee was not cutting it anymore. Lifting his eyes he smiled softly at the sight of Isabelle sitting behind their father’s desk and doing her own reading. Alec was so grateful that she was there it was almost tangible. Isabelle had been a tremendous help these past couple of days, sitting with him and reading reports, doing everything she could to cut his workload- everything that Jace wasn’t doing. She was also extremely good at making Jace do the little he was willing to do which was invaluable. She looked so sweet, dwarfed by the enormous desk and it reminded Alec when they were kids and she’d sit in their dad’s chair, her nose barely reaching above the surface of the desk, waving her little arms around and commanding hoards of invisible shadowhunters. Isabelle lifted her head and caught her brother’s soft little nostalgic smile and returned it. She could see the dark circles under his eyes and the way the shine in the hazel irises was dimmed and realized that for the first time in her life she actually hated her mother- teen years had nothing on what she was feeling right now. 

“Where the hell is Jace?” Alec asked with a deep sigh, he really didn’t want to waste yet another day running around and tracking down his parabatai. The tracking down bit was easy, considering, it was the convincing Jace to come down to the office and do his job which was the hard part and frankly, quite pointless. “I’ve asked him to be here five minutes ago, I really don’t have the time to run all around New York trying to find him...” Isabelle let a soft, dangerous smile spread over her lips, 

“You want Jace?” She asked, pulling out her phone and fired a quick text. Alec didn’t even have time to frown at her and ask why she looked so pleased with herself when the door burst open and Jace, breathing hard and his hair in disarray, ran inside, 

“Izzy, you wouldn’t dare!” He cried, pointing his finger at the preening Isabelle who’s smile only grew wider as she turned to Alec, 

“One Jace, delivered.” She said smugly and completely missed the look of the disdain crossing Jace’s face. Alec tried very hard not to let the smile surface, knowing that he needed to capitalize on the face that Jace was in the room as quickly as he could before the slippery blond escaped again. 

“Thank you Izzy,” He said with a grateful nod and was answered by a wink from his sister, “Jace, I need you to go and greet the new medic, who is coming today.” Jace crossed his arms over his chest, he was still pretty annoyed by Isabelle’s dirty playing, 

“Why do we even need a new medic?” He grumbled, and caught the identical eye roll Alec and Isabelle gave him. He always hated that eye roll, even as kids- somehow it always served to remind him, more than anything else, that they were real siblings and he was just the little stray their family picked off the street. Shaking his head to rid himself of the thought he hunched even further into himself, looking even more petulant and actually pouting, “Tasha’s doing great!” Alec locked his eyes with his parabatai, he was dangerously close to throwing something at the blond. 

“It was Tasha who asked for extra help.” He said dryly, frankly too tired to start this argument again. He had thought that part of their unspoken agreement was that Jace, while being completely unhelpful and doing only the bare minimum Alec managed to guilt him into doing was not going to actually question Alec’s decisions- but apparently Alec wasn’t granted even that small blessing. Jace looked between Alec and Isabelle, taking in their exasperated expressions when something clicked for him,

“Wait, did we have this conversation before?” Alec sighed deep, and nodded once while Isabelle rolled her eyes and held two fingers up, mouthing ‘twice’ at Jace. Jace clenched his jaw and and crossed his arms over his chest, feeling extremely petulant. “Fine, what do you need me to do?” He finally asked and Alec nearly sagged with relief, 

“I need you to go and greet him, as head of the institute and then introduce him to the rest of the staff. Izzy will go with you.” He added, not caring one bit of Jace thought this was just to make sure he wouldn’t run off before he completed his task- because it was largely true. But also because Isabelle’s people skills were so much better than Jace’s and Alec didn’t want to scare the poor guy away before he even set foot in the institute. 

“What’s his name?” Isabelle asked, her voice all business and Alec smiled uncomfortably, holding out a fire message, 

“I don’t know, I can’t really read this fire message...” He confessed and Isabelle took it from him, doing her best to hide her smile. She scanned the note, her brow creasing before she gave up, 

“Wow Jace,” She said with a soft shake of her head, “Your grandmother’s handwriting is even worse than yours and I didn’t think that was possible.” Alec bit his lip and lowered his head pretending to read something on his tablet to hide his smile. Unfortunately Jace knew him far too well and he snatched the fire message from Isabelle’s hand, his ego bruised, before he took one look at it and drew himself up, 

“Yeah well, we Herondales have far more important things than to worry about pretty handwriting!” He snapped, trying to cover for the fact that he himself couldn’t really make any sense of his grandmother’s handwriting. He didn’t think his own handwriting was so bad, but it was true that compared to that of Alec and Isabelle it was chicken scratches and spider webs all tangled together by ink. Even years of Maryse best attempts of improving his penmanship didn’t help. 

“There’s a difference between a pretty handwriting and a legible one, you know.” Isabelle said as the two made their way out of the office, leaving Alec to shake his head fondly and try to block the argument as it rolled down the corridor. 

Isabelle and Jace got to the rendezvous point at the entrance to the institute to await the arrival of the new medic. They barely reached the door when the purple light of the portal lit behind it and Isabelle understood why Alec had been so pressed to get Jace there on time. Taking a deep breath she plastered on the most welcoming smile she could knowing that Jace was more likely to sulk at the man and this way at least he’ll get one friendly smile. 

The door opened and the new shadowhunter stepped through. Isabelle studied him curiously, wondering who will the Clave send. The man in front of her had black hair and dark eyes and skin so white it made him almost glow, which made the darkness of his hair stand out even more. The fact that he had his hair slicked back into a high small ponytail and coupled with his almond shaped eyes made her think of a samurai, even though the man wasn’t Japanese. 

“Hi,” He said, his voice soft and a smile stretched his lips as he made a beeline towards Jace, looking the blond up and down with what Isabelle immediately recognized as leering interest- well, that was interesting. “My name is Zachary Brassbell, but everyone calls me Zach.” He said as he reached his hand towards Jace for a shake, only Jace looked far from impressed, or caring, 

“Jace.” He grunted at the man, his arms still folded firmly over his chest, leaving Zach high and dry on the hand shake front, causing the man to drop his hand with an embarrassed smile. Isabelle was about to elbow Jace when he turned to her and practically sneered, “Are we done here?” Without waiting for an answer Jace turned and stalked off in the other direction. Isabelle very much hoped he was to least heading back to the office to meet Alec and finish the second part of this task because she had a very perplexed and probably offended medic to deal with right now, and quite a burning desire to strangle her adoptive brother. 

“Was it something I said?” Zach asked and Isabelle smiled wide, 

“Please,” She said breezily, waving her hand in dismissal, “That’s the friendliest I’ve seen him in a while.” The two looked at each other for a couple of seconds before they grinned wide, Isabelle extending her hand, “I’m Isabelle Lightwood, welcome to the New York institute.” Zach shook his head in amusement and took her hand. Isabelle led the new medic to the ops center, where everyone was starting to gather at Alec’s order for the introduction of the new staff member. She spotted Clary standing and chatting with Magnus and immediately made her way there, dragging the new guy behind her. She greeted Clary happily and then hugged her future brother-in-law warmly, 

“What are you doing here?” She asked Magnus, who shrugged, 

“I came to see if I can steal Alexander for lunch, what’s with the...” Magnus waved around to indicate the entire staff of the institute gathering around,

“New medic,” Isabelle explained, pointing at Zach, “Zach, meet Clary and Magnus.” She said and Clary waved at him while Magnus gave him a curt nod of his head. To his credit Zach seemed to take it all stride and if he was surprised to see a warlock amongst the shadowhunters he didn’t show it, instead he returned Clary’s wave and Magnus’ nod. Just then Jace appeared at the stairs, looking grim and annoyed as usual, Alec standing a step or two above him. 

“Wow...” Zach breathed softly, as Jace started talking, barely registering his words, “I thought blondie was hot, but this… this is pure perfection.” Isabelle tried to bite on a smile as her hand shot to grab Magnus’ arm, looking at him and seeing the death glare he was sending the new guy. It will be in very poor taste if the guy managed to get himself hurt on his first five minutes because he couldn’t keep his mouth shut. Besides, she doubted the Clave will send another medic if they managed to break this one so soon… 

Jace finished his little speech with pointing at Zach who soon found himself the focal point of the entire institute, he raised his hand and waved, smiling awkwardly and everyone turned to disband. Zach tried not to take it personally, after all this was one of the busiest institutes around and nobody seemed particularly thrilled to just stand around and listen to Jace grumble just because they had a new medic- after all in all likelihood they were all going to meet him sooner rather than later in the infirmary anyway. 

Alec and Jace made their way over to where Isabelle and the rest were standing. Jace immediately grabbed Clary’s arm and practically yanked the poor girl in his haste to leave, very glad this task was done and eager to leave the place before Alec found something else for him to do, he felt like he’s done more than enough for the institute for one day. Alec didn’t even seem to notice Jace walking away as his face broke into a hearty smile when he saw Magnus there, he didn’t even bother to ask the warlock what he was doing, it didn’t really matter because it was obvious he was here for him, so he just took Magnus’ arm and led him away. Alec was never big on showing affection in public, even though the whole institute knew the two were engaged, which normally Magnus didn’t mind because by the time they reached Alec’s office he was very eager to show Magnus just how happy he was to see him, but today Magnus wrapped his arm around Alec’s waist in a very defying manner, the new guy was already getting on his nerves. Besides, it was never too early to stake your claim on your man and putting the new guy in place as soon as possible was essential. 

“Well, I see the rumors are true,” Zach said conversationally, and Isabelle gave a suspicious side glance, “Alec Lightwood is dating a downworlder...” 

“Not that it’s anyone’s business back in Idris,” She answered, her voice hard and her eyes harder, “But Alec and Magnus are engaged!” Tossing a sneer at Zach’s direction she stormed away, leaving the poor guy alone. Before Zach had time to panic he didn’t know what he was to do or where he was suppose to go a tall and very attractive woman with bleached blond hair styled in a pixie cut approached him, her expression amused, 

“That was Izzy’s ‘you’ve just insulted my brother’ face,” She said pleasantly, “How the hell did you managed that already?” 

“I… I’m not sure...” Zach confessed, his eyes still turned to the direction Isabelle left before pulling himself together and turning to the shadowhunter next to him, “I’m Zach by the way.” 

“I know,” She said as she shook his hand, “I’m Tasha, your new colleague. Come on, let me show you the infirmary.” Zach smiled in relief, at least things were finally getting on the right track. Before they set out Tasha turned to him and gave him a wicked smile, “Try not to talk to anyone on the way there...” Zach rolled his eyes as he followed her- so much for a good first impression…


	11. Chapter XI

Alec stared at the punching bag as if the thing personally offended him. He was trying a new move that Magnus showed him, one that he claimed he learned personally from Bruce Lee, which led to Magnus reminiscing and Alec rolling his eyes. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe his fiancé whenever he talked about meeting famous people it was just that it seemed like Magnus had met every famous person, practically from the dawn of history and Alec was starting to get a little suspicious. At least this time there wasn’t a suggestion of Magnus going to bed with anyone...

Anyway, this new move, some sort of elaborate kick while spinning in the air looked so effortless when Magnus showed it to him but he realized was much more complex when he tried it himself. Rolling his shoulders a little he moved to the starting stance again, determined to master the kick even though he doubted he’d use it in actual battle, this was so not his style- it was too showy for him, but he liked that it made him work muscles he didn’t normally employ and besides, the element of surprise was always a good thing. 

He was wearing soft cotton pants that he inherited from Hodge- after the former martial arts master fell from grace he made a sort of a will from his cell in the city of bones, distributing his meager assets between his former pupils. Alec had inherited most of his clothes since he was the only one who was tall enough to wear them. Coupled with those was a black cotton T-shirt. Soon after he started dating Magnus Alec had opted to stop training shirtless. It wasn’t so much a conscious decision as it was just something that happened naturally, he never really enjoyed people looking at him, except when Magnus did it, then it just made him feel hot all over and blushing. The first time Magnus had seen him shirtless he was very much appreciative though Alec was too preoccupied to notice or properly appreciate it at the time. Nowadays whenever he trained shirtless it was usually against Magnus, on the roof of the loft and nearly every time ended with them having sex right there on the roof, so training in the institute shirtless felt very strange to Alec and he just didn’t do it anymore. 

“Hello, Mr. Lightwood,” Alec snapped out of his thoughts, looking up to see the new guy smiling at him. Frowning a little at having his concentration broken he shook his head and tried to focus on the man before him, knowing that even if he shooed the new guy away he wouldn’t be able to go back to the state of mind required to work on this kick. 

“Please, call me Alec.” He said, walking over to the man and extending his hand. Zach shook it and took the opportunity to study his boss closely, yes, he was very much right in his assessment before, pure perfection. 

“Only if you call me Zach.” He answered in a flirting tone as he shook Alec’s hand. Alec nodded once, completely missing Zach’s tone or looks and made his way to the corner of the training area to grab his towel off the bench, 

“So, are you settling in alright?” He asked, running the towel over his face and arms. Zach repasted his smile after a small frown at Alec’s lack of reciprocation, 

“Yes, quite well thank you.” He said, before taking a small step in Alec’s direction, “There was something I wanted to ask you,” He said and Alec looked up at him, nodding for him to continue. As head of the institute it was his job to make sure everyone who was working here was happy and taken care of. And it didn’t take a genius to realize Alec was the real power behind the throne and not Jace, so he didn’t even think twice when Zach came to him asking for things and not Jace- even after being only six hours in the institute. “You’re an archer, right?” Zach asked and the question caught Alec a little off balance- he was expecting a complaint about Zach’s room or something to do with the infirmary, not a personal question. Catching himself he nodded again, 

“Yes, I guess you can say that...” He answered slowly and was rewarded with a bright smile from Zach, 

“Your reputation precedes you back in Idris,” He told his boss, unknowingly making the poor man feel even more uncomfortable than before- Alec never knew how to react to compliments. The only person who made him feel happy about them was Magnus, well not so much happy as very horny… Alec rubbed the back of his neck, hoping that Zach will get to his point quickly, because if he didn’t there was a good chance Alec would just leave, rude or not. “Anyway, I’ve been known to dabble with the bow,” Zach said, his voice playful and his eye-roll too, “Nowhere near your level of course, but I was wondering if you could give me some pointers, show me some moves, that kind of thing.” Alec felt the tension leaving his body- teaching, he could handle teaching. It could even be nice, to have a fellow archer around. Angel knows he’s been trying to get Jace and Izzy interested in bowing for years but neither was keen on it. Even Max refused to even hear of it and tended to sprint away from the room whenever Alec tried to mention it screaming abuse- it was turning into an institute joke really. 

“Sure,” He said with a relived smile, “That would be nice. When… When do want to meet?” Zach gave the other man a bright smile, happy that Alec agreed to his request. 

“How about now? I have quite a lot of free time, at least until you clear me for action…” He said lightly, throwing a little dig in even though he knew this was not Alec’s decision but the Clave’s who demanded that all new personnel spent their first week on the job learning the ropes before allowed on the field. Alec let out a small smile, 

“I can’t right now, I need to take a shower and go home.” Zach looked around him meaningfully, spreading his hands as if to say- hello… home… Alec shook his head, “Oh I don’t live in the institute, I live with my fiancé in Brooklyn.” He tried his best not to let a very pleased smile onto his face but he really liked everything that had to do with letting people know he was engaged to Magnus. A part of him hoped that he’d stop doing this at some point because sometimes it sounded like this was his greatest achievement but mostly he basked in his new relationship status as much as he could. 

“Ah, the warlock.” Zach said and Alec found himself bristling at once, he didn’t know the guy well enough to decide if he meant it as an insult or not but he wasn’t taking any chances, 

“Is there a problem?” He folded his arms over his chest, pulling himself to his full height. He didn’t normally do that, use his very impressive size to intimidate people. Normally Alec preferred to hunch and try to minimize his presence but on occasions like these, when someone was badmouthing someone he cared for he found it usually worked in putting people back in their place. Zach shrugged, not particularly threatened by Alec’s stance- though it could be because the guy didn’t really know Alec that well yet, 

“Well, you know what they’re like...” 

“No, I don’t!” Alec snapped, really fed up with this attitude. He wasn’t about to lash out violently at the guy, as Jace or Izzy might do if someone pushed their buttons, but he certainly wasn’t about to let this guy walk out of the training area without a piece of Alec’s mind, “I know what we’ve been taught to believe since we were kids about downworlders,” He started, his eyes and voice hard and commanding, “And some of them probably do follow stereotype, but I also know that if it wasn’t for their help we would never have defeated Valentine, so the next warlock or werewolf or vampire or even seelie I meet I’ll make sure to get to know them based on their personality and not their race!” He finished his little speech slightly winded, and he knew his cheeks were flushed but he was glad he said all he said because it was important for him that the new guy knew from day one what he was getting into. 

“That’s… very noble.” Zach said, and from some reason it made Alec even angrier, 

“Look,” He said, gesturing towards the other man, “We have worked very hard to turn this place around, to stop the prejudice against downworlders and to start building a sustainable and productive relationship between the races. We need them just as much as they need us and it’s about time we stop listen to stories written hundreds of years ago and start thinking for ourselves!” It felt good to let this out, to say what was on his mind without fearing repercussions. He wasn’t stupid or naive, he knew damn well that the only reason they were allowed to get away with what they were doing was because he was a Lightwood and Jace was a Herondale. But he didn’t care, the way Alec saw it he was going to use the power his family name offered for as long as he could, because for centuries all the Clave did was try and keep their worlds separated, by any means they could- be it the accords or children’s nighttime stories, and for years Alec believed them. Because he didn’t know any different and never saw a reason not to. But then he met Magnus and his whole world tilted on its axis and Alec had to admit he was damn grateful it did. Downworlders were not that different from shadowhunters- it was so simple and therefore so infuriating that it was hard to accept. ‘Foolishness is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results’, that was one of Magnus’ favorite quotes (that and bragging to Alec how he used to beat Albert Einstein in chess) and Alec found he was relating to it more and more, the Clave tried the same thing for centuries and Alec knew they did not seek the change, on the contrary. But these were different times and Alec knew that smothering downworlders to keep them down would only bring on another rising or worse, another Valentine and he was determined to fight it in any way he could. So yes, the new guy had to learn as soon as possible what working here meant! 

Zach lifted his hands in surrender- he’s heard the rumors about the New York institute of course, they were pretty much the talk of the town back in Alicante. The Clave was still unsure how to deal with the developments in one of their chief institutes, but even they couldn’t ignore the work that Alec and the rest were doing. But Zach couldn’t deny that seeing his boss looking like this- disheveled from his workout, his eyes bright and gleaming and his cheeks slightly pink was getting to him, hard! Besides, he couldn’t help but get swept away in what Alec was saying. Building bridges between the races was a good thing, a great thing in fact and only a really rigid and archaic organization like the Clave could be against it. 

“You are absolutely right,” He said softly, his smile wide, “That’s why I asked to come here, the New York institute is the place were things are happening! It’s very exciting to be here.” Alec felt his body relaxing a little and even managed a small smile. It was nice to know that all their hard work wasn’t in vain. He knew they didn’t have a hope in hell in influencing the Clave members themselves and they didn’t even try- their aim was towards the young generation of shadowhunters, because they were the future Clave members and if they could change their minds then there was hope for their race. “Besides, I wanted to meet you in person. The man who made it possible for the rest of us to stop hiding.” Alec frowned a little, not entirely sure what Zach meant when it hit him. Now the blush took over furiously and his hand lifted to rub the back of his neck awkwardly. He was very happy to give credit to anyone who was even remotely involved in the promotion of racial relations- after all it was a joined effort that got them through and made things possible and Alec would never dream of taking all the credit to himself, but this? This was his achievement alone. Coming out, admitting to himself and the world what he was and who he loved was something he couldn’t really share credit with anyone. Not to mention the fact that he chose to make a stand in the matter at his own wedding, in front of half the Clave, by kissing a warlock of all people. It seemed his little act of defiance was coming back to taunt him from very unexpected angles, even after all the months that passed. 

“Um… I… ah… I think...” Alec stammered, quite adorably in Zach’s opinion, before he took a deep breath, deciding to be graceful about it and hopefully let the matter rest, “Thank you.” 

“I’m very glad to be working here,” Zach said, deciding to save Alec from his own embarrassment, “You guys are exactly what the shadow world needs, and I can’t wait to be a part of it.” A smile bloomed on Alec’s face, a big happy one, and Zach couldn’t help himself, taking a step towards Alec and lowering his voice and eyelashes, “Besides, the head of this institute is really hot...” Alec gave half a shrug, completely missing the leering tone of the other man, 

“I guess, if you’re into blonds...” He was mighty glad that the only people who knew for sure about his little crush on Jace were family, and Clary, and there wasn’t much of a danger this will spread out- besides, even if it did it won’t matter because he had Magnus and that was so much better! “I wouldn’t get my hopes too high on Jace though,” He advised the new medic and patted his shoulder, bypassing the shocked man on his way to leave the training area, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really like the idea that people are trying to hit on Alec and he just doesn’t notice, not only don’t reciprocate but actually not able to tell they’re doing it. It’s cute. 
> 
> That was my little anti-war rant, hope it didn’t get too heavy.


	12. Chapter XII

When Alec opened the door to the loft he was immediately assaulted with loud music, which didn’t get past the door due to a ward Magnus had put up. Closing the door behind him Alec leaned against it and just watched, still in his coat and boots, as Magnus danced his way around the living room, wearing only a pair of colorful Indonesian style pants. His chest and back were glistening with sweat, letting Alec know he’s been at it for a while now. Alec sighed deep, no matter how hard his day was- coming home to this? That was like a healing balm for his soul. The way Magnus moved… That was beyond words- in fact, Alec suspected magic was involved because it was damn near impossible for a person to move so fluidly and effortlessly, like there were no bones in Magnus’ body. To Alec, this was better than any show ever made, he could just stand there and watch his fiancé dance forever and be completely happy. 

Just standing there and looking at Magnus made Alec reach a decision- he wasn’t going to stress over his mother’s devious plans anymore. Whatever Maryse thought she might gain with her nefarious plots was nothing Alec had to worry about because there wasn’t a force in this world or beyond that could separate him and Magnus and he swore he wasn’t going to lose another minute of sleep over it. This decision made his smile, and just thinking about it made him feel lighter, like a heavy burden was lifted from him. Closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the door Alec basked in this feeling of lightness. 

It took less the twenty four hours for Alec’s levels of stress to rise back up again, and this time he wholly blamed Magnus and Isabelle. After all it was Isabelle’s quite insane idea to throw a birthday party to Raphael who, by the way, didn’t even want one! And not only that, she dragged Magnus into it as well! Not that Alec thought she had to work too hard, after all you only had to say the words ‘plan a party’ and his fiancé was all over it before you could even say who the party was for. Normally Alec wouldn’t mind so much, let Magnus be Magnus and work his magic, and he had to admit this was a wonderful opportunity to get the downworlders and shadowhunters closer. But this time it got a little too personal. First of all, and Alec wasn’t sure how, Magnus convinced him to let him chose his outfit for the party. Well, actually he knew exactly how Magnus managed that and Alec was pretty sure that using your body in such sexy ways to distract and manipulate your partner had to be foul play and therefore illegal, but since he promised under whatever circumstances (or rather under Magnus) he couldn’t back down. At least he put his foot down on the subject of mesh or sheer fabrics- no one had to see that much of him, even if it was a party and especially if the entire institute was invited. 

But what really worried Alec, what was really making him break in spontaneous shivers and contemplating escaping the country when the day arrived was the hints Magnus kept dropping about making Alec dance. All his life Alec had thought he was fairly flexible- he was better at touching his toes without bending his knees than both Jace and Izzy after all, but then Magnus came bursting into his life and Alec realized there were planks of wood that were more flexible than he was. Coupled with the fact that his sense of rhythm was non-existent and his general inability to synchronize his moves without some sort of a weapon in his hands and you have the perfect recipe for a dance floor disaster. There was a very good reason why Magnus hadn’t seen him dance as of yet and Alec was very eager to keep it that way- Maryse may not be able to separate them but Alec’s dancing may very well will! 

Looking at himself in the mirror Alec sighed, it wasn’t too late to run away he kept telling himself, though if he did he wasn’t going to get very far less than half an hour before they were set to leave for the party. He shifted uncomfortably, trying to make sense of what he was wearing. At first glance it didn’t look much different from what he wore everyday, meaning he was decked all in black but to Alec it screamed volumes. Everything was far too tight! His pants felt to Alec like Magnus could have just taken a can of black spray paint and sprayed his legs for the sheer tightness of them. They weren’t uncomfortable and the fabric felt really nice against his skin, he had to admit but they did showcase his legs and ass far more than he ever wanted or intended to show the world. His shirt wasn’t better, it had sleeves so short they barely covered his biceps and the hem of it reached exactly his pants line, which meant he wasn’t able to tuck it in and if he lifted his arms even the slightest his stomach was showing. He honestly hated Magnus for doing this to him. Why did he need to scream ‘sexy’ was beyond him- there was only one person he wanted to notice him and by now he had plenty of other tricks to gain Magnus’ attention. Looking up at his hair Alec shook his head and then quickly stopped, Magnus had magicked his hair to stand up, not all that different from the way he himself wore his hair which Alec didn’t think was too bad but then his little imp of a fiancé put a handful of glitter on it and now every time Alec moved his head he was spraying the stuff around like a fountain. His T-shirt was already practically covered with the silver specks, making it all the harder for people not to notice him. The last touch of his humiliation was Magnus insisting on putting eyeliner on him- though the longer he looked at himself Alec had to admit this was the part he was least objecting to, because Magnus kept it simple, just dark lines around his eyes, which made them look bigger and somehow more expressive and Alec was almost sure, greener. 

“Are you done eye fucking yourself in the mirror?” Alec spun around to face his fiancé, his eyes narrowing and a sharp retort on his tongue that died away when he saw Magnus. The warlock was wearing a dark suit, tailored to perfection, his shirt was made of green silk, opened almost to his naval and the only thing covering his chest was an array of necklaces glittering and shimmering with every move he made. Magnus had green strikes in his hair and his makeup was done in silvery green, making his whole appearance sparkle and glisten like a jewel and Alec found all he wanted to do was unwrap Magnus like a present and lick him all over like a giant lollipop, “Like what you see?” Magnus purred as he approached his dumbstruck fiancé, loving the effect he had on Alec who nodded mutely, his eyes shamelessly roaming up and down Magnus’ body, his hands reaching over to touch that magnificent creature before him. Magnus allowed Alec to pull him close, bury his nose in Magnus’ neck, breathing him in before he pulled back and gave Alec a small peck on the lips, “Good, then let’s get going!” He said cheekily as he turned away from Alec to conjure a portal, unable to hold back a smile as he heard Alec’s little disappointed mewl behind him. 

They were standing at the entrance of ‘Pandemonium’, Magnus surveying the swirling lights and nodding his head happily to the beat of the music- he loved partying so much… Next to him Alec was trying to pull down the sleeves of his shirt and the hem of it to cover more and Magnus rolled his eyes, slapping Alec’s hands away. He congratulated himself for the forethought of enforcing the fabric of Alec’s shirt with magic otherwise the poor man would be left completely shirtless. Not that Magnus would complain of course… Grabbing Alec’s elbow Magnus led his reluctant partner further into the club, looking for the guest of honor- if only to make sure Isabelle was having no troubles with him. Maybe he and Izzy should open up a support group- dating people who refused to have fun!

He found the two standing on the edge of the dancing floor, Isabelle looking longingly at the dancing people while Raphael stood beside her with his usual frown. Magnus rolled his eyes, honestly, was it too much to ask a person to enjoy his own party? Isabelle spotted them and practically jumped to hug Magnus, 

“Wow Alec, you look...” She blinked a couple of times, looking at the person who looked exactly like her brother only much much better, but there was no mistaking the uncomfortable expression on his face, that was pure Alec. Alec glared at his sister, daring her to say anything, even if it was a compliment so he could turn and leave. 

“We need drinks!” Magnus declared loudly, before Alec decided it was too much for him, and grabbed the tall shadowhunter, leading him to the bar. He ordered drinks from the seelie girl behind the bar who upon seeing him immediately went to service him. Being the owner of a club sure came with perks. The girl put three martini glasses in front of him and one tall glass full of blood with a celery stick. Alec picked his drink up, looking at the martini glass and took a deep breath- as long as he’s sitting at the bar with a drink in his hand he could actually enjoy the party. He was sure of it. 

“Come on.” Magnus said as he tugged Alec’s arm, and the shadowhunter sighed, picking up his and Isabelle’s drinks and following Magnus back to where his sister and vampire were. Handing over the drinks the four clinked glasses and Magnus congratulated Raphael loudly, beaming like a proud father and even produced a little trumpet that shot confetti on Raphael who rolled his eyes and tried very hard to hold back a smile. Suddenly the song changed and both Magnus and Isabelle’s eyes lit up. Unceremoniously they shoved their drinks into Alec’s hands and hand in hand practically skipped their way to the dance floor. Alec looked at the vampire who once again looked his usual gloomy self, albeit covered in colorful confetti take a sip of his drink. From some reason Alec found the whole blood drinking process fascinating but when Raphael caught him staring he shot him a dark glare and huffed, turning and heading in the other direction. Alec made his way back to the bar trying to balance the three martini glasses in his hands and avoiding running into any of the party goers who were popping all over the place, making his way back to the bar much harder and longer. Placing the drinks down he sat back on the stool and lined them up, knowing it was going to take quite a while before he saw either his fiancé or his sister so he didn’t even feel bad about planning on drinking their cocktails. While he was sipping on his cocktail he looked around him, his head bobbing softly in time with the music. He could see Magnus and Isabelle had managed to clear quite a circle around them in their rather wild dancing, joined in by Dot and Simon, who Alec found moved pretty much like he talked- all over the place. He wondered where Jace was, he could feel his parabatai was around but he couldn’t see the blond. He hoped he was busy with Clary somewhere and not with anyone else because this kind of party was exactly the place Jace liked to prowl for one-night-stands. 

By the time he finished the three martinis and ordered another Alec was starting to feel the alcohol settling in nicely in his system, making him feel a little lightheaded and he found he was moving more to the music, though in no rush to leave his chair. A pair of warm familiar hands slipped around his waist, and Alec leaned back against Magnus’ chest, smiling broadly. 

“Come dance with me...” Magnus whispered in his ear and suddenly all the warmth of the vermouth was gone. Alec shook his head, spreading his glitter everywhere, including into his latest drink much to his chagrin, 

“No...” He said with a soft pout, hoping to dissuade Magnus from this particular idea, but Magnus simply turned him on his bar chair and pressed himself close, standing between Alec’s legs, 

“It’s a slow song, all you have to do is hold me and sway, it’s not even proper dancing.” He told his reluctant shadowhunter while pulling Alec to his feet. Alec followed, his limbs heavy with alcohol and his willpower gone with it. Besides, it didn’t sound too bad, swaying- he could definitely pull swaying, hell he was doing it already! Magnus led them to the edge of the dance floor, knowing Alec would rather shoot his own foot than find himself in the middle of the bustling dance floor. He showed Alec where to put his hands and with a smile and a soft kiss they were off. Magnus was looking up at his fiancé, noting the little crease between Alec’s eyes that indicated he was concentrating and smiled- it was so cute that Alec was taking this as a chore to be mastered rather than feel the music in his body. Suddenly he felt Alec’s heavy foot on his and winced, trying to move his foot away and not draw attention to Alec’s clumsiness. Unfortunately Alec felt his movement, and also saw the pain blooming on Magnus’ face and pulled back, trying to escape the circle of Magnus’ arms, but the warlock wouldn’t let him. 

“Magnus…” Alec tried to beg his way out, how was this a good idea again? It was fucking swaying! Swaying! And he couldn’t even get that right… All he wanted right now was to escape the humiliation of it, and if he had to use force to make Magnus let him save the rest of his dignity- he may very well do just that! 

“No,” Magnus said firmly as he pulled Alec back into him, causing the intoxicated shadowhunter to bump against his body hard, “You need to practice.” Alec frowned, 

“What? Why?” Magnus tried to bite down on a smile at the sight of Alec’s adorably panicked expression, 

“If you think I’m going to be dancing the first dance at our wedding alone, you are very much mistaken!” He stated firmly and Alec couldn’t help but loving the warmth that was spreading inside him as Magnus talked about their wedding. They haven’t really discussed any plans yet, and Alec actually liked the idea of being engaged for a bit but the way his chest warmed and expanded at Magnus’ words maybe they should start planning their wedding, and soon!

“Was that even an option?” He wondered out loud, because if it was he was taking it with both hands! After all, wedding or not people would much prefer watching Magnus dance than watching him fumble around like a drunken elephant in a tux. And how rude will it be to offer Magnus do that first dance with Izzy? 

“No, it’s not an option!” Magnus snapped, reading Alec’s thoughts correctly. He grabbed Alec’s chin firmly and turned his head so he could stare into Alec’s eyes, “I will have my first dance with my husband!” Alec grinned wide, unable to deny how happy the words were making him. Pulling Magnus closer he leaned to whisper in his ear, feeling rather emboldened, 

“You know what else we need to practice?” Magnus wanted to roll his eyes, he had a feeling where this was leading and he had to give Alec kudos for managing to get out of dancing so smoothly, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to stop that gorgeous man pressed against him. After all, he did chose Alec’s outfit knowing exactly how it will affect him,

“What?” 

“Our wedding night...” Alec said, rubbing his nose softly on the shell of Magnus’ ear and the warlock had to close his eyes and take a deep breath, and try to remind himself they were still in a very public place, though he didn’t even hear the music anymore over the blood gushing in his veins. Pulling back with a predatory smile he grabbed Alec’s hand and started pulling his lover behind him, but to Alec’s surprise they weren’t heading for the entrance of the club, but further into its bowls. “Where are we going?” Magnus turned around and gave him a small wink, leading him towards a set of stairs, 

“You’re not the only one who has an office with a door!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn’t decide if I wanted Magnus in green, blue or purple so I did a little ‘inny minny’ and green won. Feel free to change it if you feel strongly about one of the other two…


	13. Chapter XIII

Magnus led Alec up the stairs, grabbing his beautiful nephilim and kissing him senseless on the way up, both of them giggling breathlessly like idiots every time they missed a stair and nearly fell over. When they reached the top Magnus opened a door to his left, leading his beloved shadowhunter inside. Alec’s jaw drops as he entered Magnus’ office. For one thing, it was huge- he wasn’t sure why Magnus needed so much space, because he was pretty sure running an institute required more work than running a club and this place was about twice the size of his own office. The place was done with tasteful white furniture that Alec was able to see even without Magnus turning the lights on because one of the walls was in fact a huge window that overlooked the club. Alec walked to it looking down in awe at the swaying masses on the dance floor. It was a little weird to see people dancing but not hear the music they were moving to. Magnus must have put a strong ward to fend off sound and light from annoying him too much while he was working. 

Magnus came to stand behind his lover, running his hands softly around Alec’s waist to his stomach. As much as he loved the idea of Alec admiring his office and his club he was too horny to let him just stand there and ogle, and after all it was Alec’s fault he was even in this state so the least the tall shadowhunter could do was join in! Alec felt the soft lips attach themselves to his deflect rune, and automatically moved his head to the side to give Magnus more room to work, his eyes slipping close. But when Magnus’ fingers deftly started opening his belt Alec jostled and pulled slightly away, 

“Wait!” He cried, trying to clear his head, but the combination of Magnus and alcohol was making it hard to think, “People can see...” Magnus shook his head softly as he grabbed Alec’s midriff and hugged his tight, not letting his beautiful man escape, 

“This window is charmed to show only on this side, if any of those people looked up all they would see is a wall.” He told Alec who relaxed a friction, trying to remember if he noticed anything while he was down there. He still felt his cheeks warming up at the thought of doing naughty things while people were so close, but he couldn’t deny the thought was kind of thrilling and exciting- especially if no one could see them. He felt Magnus’ hands working on his belt again but this time he didn’t stop him, nor did he stop his fiancé when Magnus shoved his hand into his underwear, only let out a low groan as his head fell back on Magnus’ shoulder, “I want to fuck you right here, against this window,” Magnus said, his voice rough with want and Alec could only whimper in response, “Make you scream my name and cum so hard, while everyone down there continue to dance and be completely oblivious… Are you going to let me do that, love?” Alec nodded his head, quite gone with Magnus’ hand on his rock hard cock and his breath tickling his neck, 

“Y… Yes…” He moaned and Magnus smiled. He pushed Alec slightly forward, causing the shadowhunter to hold up his hands rather clumsily to break his fall. While Alec was adjusting his stance and bracing himself against the cold glass Magnus summoned a pot of lube to him, the one he kept in his desk drawer for days when he did the club’s bills and orders and it got too boring. This was actually one of his favorite fantasies, getting Alec up here and doing everything he just promised the man, and Magnus had to close his eyes for a second and recompose himself because having your fantasy come true was a very strong aphrodisiac and he wasn’t about to let this golden opportunity go to waste. 

Returning to his task of getting Alec’s pants off Magnus found it was a lot harder to do with one hand, but he didn’t really have a place to put the pot of lube so he tried awkwardly to open the button of Alec’s pants with as much grace as he could. Luckily Alec sensed his struggle and while his forehead was still pressed against the glass his hands went to his pants and undoing them with slightly shaking fingers, before he pushed them and his underwear down. 

Magnus felt the smile tugging at his lips and didn’t even try to fight it- Alec was always beautiful but the way he trusted Magnus so wholeheartedly was making the warlock feel like his heart was going to explode with the love he felt for that man. Even though he thought he was in love in the past, quite a few times in fact, he had never ever felt like this and Magnus tried to cherish this feeling as much as possible. Opening the small jar Magnus smiled again, being a centuries old warlock with a very good hand at brewing potions meant that by now he had perfected the art of lube making and while he knew Alec never got to experience any other kind he was still very appreciative of the smooth silky texture of it. 

He started off slow, wanting to prolong this experience as much as possible. He could feel Alec was teetering closer and closer to the edge with every move of his fingers but Magnus wasn’t worried- Alec was young and full of pent up sexual frustration, not to mention a shadowhunter with easy access to runes which meant quite a speedy recovery even if he did come before Magnus was done preparing him. 

Alec was gazing down through the window, his harsh panting breaths fogging the glass with every exhale, but he wasn’t really seeing what was going on downstairs, his head was completely elsewhere, because the things Magnus was doing with his fingers were nothing short of art. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on his breathing though the soft puffs of Magnus’ breathing against his neck were not making it easier, especially when he felt them increase as Magnus’ breathing became heavier, 

“Magnus… please...” Alec panted, rubbing his forehead from side to side against the glass that didn’t even feel cold anymore, and pushed himself back against his lover. Magnus got the hint and pulled his fingers out before he snapped his fingers and his pants disappeared. Using the hand that was already covered in lube he lathered himself up and tossed the small pot behind his back, knowing that the charms on the glass will keep it from breaking. 

Alec groaned loudly as he felt Magnus’ cock enter him, by the Angel he loved that feeling! The way Magnus filled him up completely was nothing short of a miracle in his eyes. Logically he knew that this was what he was meant to feel but Alec also knew that no one would ever make him feel the way Magnus does and he would never want to let anyone else do this to him. He leaned his head back against Magnus’ shoulder, his hand going backwards to grab Magnus’ waist and encourage him to move, which Magnus happily did. 

They moved together, the only sound in the office coming from their heavy pants and moans and the slap of flesh against flesh. Magnus could feel Alec was being hesitant about what to do with his body, like he did every time they tried a new position or location and couldn’t help the smile tugging at his lips- Alec was so cute that way and he wasn’t even aware of it, which Magnus found hot as hell. Grabbing Alec’s waist hard, Magnus increased the pace, the combination of dancing and getting his little fantasy come true was making him heady with need and he knew he wouldn’t last very long. He grabbed Alec’s cock, running his hand over it and making the taller man moan loudly, his voice cracking with desire as he got closer to his climax. 

“You’re so beautiful, my Alexander...” Magnus panted, as always dissolving into a long litany of praises for Alec that he somehow managed to time with his thrusts. Alec was blushing hard, even in this state his body refused to take compliments gracefully. “So… amazing… so… yes, oh god, Alec! So good… to… me...” Magnus was losing the thread of his thoughts and was just muttering and mumbling now in between pants and moans. Alec answered with his own string of non-coherent noises, too far gone to enunciate anything as he leaned against the window again, feeling his knees about to buckle when Magnus pushed hard into him and his world turned white. 

Magnus could feel his orgasm being almost pulled from him by the force of Alec’s own. He let out a loud groan, biting hard into Alec’s neck as they both rode the waves of pleasure happily before slowly collapsing to the floor, completely spent. Magnus cuddled against Alec, who wrapped his arms around the warlock, both of them trying to regain their breath and find a comfortable position. When Magnus was finally able to get his head around he lifted his hand lazily and cleaned them both with a flick of his wrist and with another lazy snap of his fingers they were both dressed again. 

“Did you enjoy that?” Magnus asked softly, his head resting on Alec’s shoulder and his fingers playing with the ring on Alec’s hand. The tall shadowhunter hummed softly, 

“Yes, very much...” Magnus grinned to himself, loving that feeling he had every time he got Alec to do something new and peeled another layer of insecurity and shame off his nephilim. He wanted to do anything he could to make Alec proud of who he was and unapologetic about it and he had the time and patience to do that. 

“Next time we can try the toilets...” He joked but he could feel how fast Alec tensed against his body and pulled himself back a little to look at his man in the panicked eye, “I was kidding!” Magnus cried, trying to ease Alec’s nerves before they turned into a panic attack. The last thing he wanted after great sex was Alec going into a meltdown… “It was a joke, I would never ask you to have sex in a toilet!” 

“Is… is public sex really that…” Alec stammered softly, his body trying to overcome the rush of panic that after having sex kind of left him exhausted, 

“The thrill of getting caught is quite a powerful aphrodisiac,” Magnus explained, his voice clipped and almost professional- like he was discussing a generic topic with a class, not sex with his lover, “But it takes the right person to enjoy it, and you my beloved Alexander, are not that kind of person.” 

“Why?” Alec asked suspiciously, somehow it felt to him like he should be insulted, but that didn’t make sense. After all he didn’t really want Magnus to take him to any toilets for sex, 

“Alexander, you can barely stand it when people look at you when you address them, I cannot imagine you will enjoy them watching you while you don’t want them to...” Magnus said in a clipped tone and Alec shrugged softly and nodded, that was true- the only good thing about his current leadership situation was that he was able to let Jace do all the public addressing necessary for the institute. It was a win-win situation, because Jace loved the attention. “While I, on the other hand, am a hedonist and thrive with the attention of others.” Magnus said with a flourish wave of his hand, and Alec couldn’t really deny this was true as well. Sometimes it still worried him, why would someone as fabulous and outgoing as Magnus do with a introvert like him, but luckily those thoughts lessened significantly since he and Magnus confessed their love for each other. 

“Does that mean you want to get back to the party and have everyone look at you dance?” He asked playfully, though deep down he hoped Magnus would say no. He didn’t really feel like going back to sitting on a stool by the bar and drinking anymore… 

“I much rather take you home and ‘practice’ some more...” Magnus murmured against Alec’s neck, rubbing his nose on the soft skin and causing Alec to giggle a little. Pulling himself up with a slight effort, Alec lent a hand to Magnus to pull him up with a huge smile. 

Isabelle was breathing hard, her face was sweaty and her hair was losing its perfect do and now strands of it were sticking to her face. As much as she loved dancing she needed a break. Making her way off the dance floor she briefly wondered when the hell did Magnus disappear from her side. She shrugged, assuming Alec finally managed to guilt Magnus into leaving the party, and made her way to the bar, she needed a drink. She ordered her drink and tried to discreetly fix herself with the help of her stele and a couple of handy runes. 

“Tell me again why we’re having this stupid party?” Isabelle turned to see Clary slumping on a bar stool next to her, looking petulant and cross and bit back on the harsh words she was going to give the redhead for badmouthing her party. Instead she took a fortifying sip from her cocktail and tried to plaster her most sympathetic smile on, 

“What’s wrong?” Clary sighed dramatically, not aware of how close her friend was to smacking her, 

“Whose bright idea was it to invite pretty much every downworlder Jace has ever slept with?” She complained loudly and Isabelle found she was biting on a smile, she couldn’t help it- it was funny because it was true, she did notice quite a few girls she knew passed through Jace’s bed, but she didn’t think Clary knew any of them, 

“How do you know Jace’s exes?” She asked, her curiosity picked, as she took another sip of her drink, 

“They keep coming to me and offering advice on how to please him in bed!” Clary practically wailed and Isabelle nearly chocked on her drink trying hard not to laugh. Grabbing a napkin from behind the bar she cleaned herself and the wooden surface, trying to think of what she could say to that, but damn it was funny! Poor Clary… 

“Well, we figured it would be a good opportunity to bring both shadowhunters and downworlders together,” She explained sheepishly, “I can’t help it Jace was a total slut before you came along...” Clary glared at her friend, clearly not happy with her response. Right now she needed to vent out and have her drama nurtured not this cold, harsh Lightwood logic! 

“Where’s Magnus?” She demanded, surely he would be more sympathetic to her woes. Isabelle shrugged, 

“I haven’t seen him for a while, I guess he and Alec went home already...” It wouldn’t really surprise her that her brother managed to convince Magnus to skip the party- after all, Magnus did dress him with the sole purpose of undressing him as fast as possible… 

“Nah, Alec is still in the building,” She turned to see Jace, who was wrapped around Clary from behind, while the redhead tried her best to maintain her righteous, angry facade. A leering smile spread on Isabelle’s face, 

“Oh my god!” She cried gleefully, “You think they’re doing it? Here?” Jace shrugged, 

“How the hell should I know?” He scoffed, and rolled his eyes when Isabelle gave him a Look, “You think Alec would have stayed a virgin for so long if we could feel it every time the other was having sex?” Clary, who was actually starting to relax in Jace’s embrace tensed again, her face pinched in anger, which Jace didn’t see of course but Isabelle found quite comical. But before Clary had time to turn and give her boyfriend a piece of her mind Magnus and Alec showed up, holding hands and smiling. Isabelle turned to look critically at them both, her smile steadily growing. They obviously took the time to fix their hair and clothes, but she could still spot the little things- like how Magnus’ outfit was now almost as glittery as Alec’s and was that the edge of a love bite pocking out next to Alec’s deflect rune? 

“Alec! Magnus!” She cried happily, “I thought you guys left!” Behind her Alec could see both Jace and Clary trying to bite on smiles and narrowed his eyes at them all, but Magnus just gave Isabelle a broad smile in return, not in the least embarrassed, 

“I was just giving Alexander the grand tour of my club.” He replied airily, plucking the drink out of Isabelle’s hand and taking a generous sip, before passing it to Alec. Isabelle didn’t even look upset at the fact that her cocktail was now completely gone, she was having too much fun teasing her brother, because even though it was clear to everyone what the two have been up to she knew Alec would rather stab himself than admitting it out loud, which made it so much more amusing. Alec took one look at his siblings, and Clary, seeing their highly amused expressions and huffed, sending each of them a death glare before grabbing the preening Magnus’ arm and dragging him away- it was high time they went home!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I couldn’t find a good place to mention it but Magnus cast a spell on the glass so that Alec won’t recognize anyone in the club. Seeing your siblings or friends while you’re busy having sex is the ultimate mood killer. Magnus isn’t taking any chances. 
> 
> I have to admit this is the most sterile sex scene I’ve ever written… I can’t explain why but lately I find those harder and harder to write. Apologies.


	14. Chapter XIV

It was Monday morning and everyone in the institute still seemed to be talking about the party that took place on Saturday and while Alec mostly rolled his eyes whenever he heard people talking about it Isabelle was basking in the success of her party. 

She’d been practically walking on clouds since the party, loving that people either came to her or texted her to say how much they enjoyed it- from both sides of the shadow world. It was indeed a triumph to their efforts to bring people together but on a personal level it was a huge success on her part and she was glad she insisted on it. The biggest surprise came from Raphael who tried to stay aloof and distant but caved on Sunday afternoon and admitted to her that it wasn’t all that bad as far as parties went. Isabelle was so happy that she didn’t even care the word ‘fun’ wasn’t mentioned. 

Right now she was teaching Max how to use a Bo stick. The two were circling the training mat, trying to knock the other over. Isabelle was using her her own hardened whip as she always did while Max chose a stick from the bunch in the corner. Suddenly Max stopped his circling and leaned against his stick, like an old man on a long staff, 

“Izzy, can I ask you something?” Isabelle straitened, giving her baby brother a stern look, 

“Can’t you fight and ask at the same time?” She reprimanded her brother gently, training was important and she wasn’t about to let Max get away with asking pointless questions. Max rolled his eyes but resumed his fighting stance, facing his sister again, 

“Do you think mum is having an affair too?” Isabelle froze in shock, Max’s question was so unexpected she was left blinking with a gaping mouth. Unfortunately for her Max used her momentary distraction to swipe his stick under her and knock her on her back. Max’s eyes widened, he hadn’t meant to do that! Throwing his stick away he rushed to his sister, pulling her hand so she was now sitting on the floor, “I’m sorry Izzy! Are you alright?” Max cried, crouching before her, while Isabelle still looked blankly at him, 

“What the hell Max?” She cried once her shocked ebbed away a little, “What happened in Idris this weekend?” If it had been up to her she would have taken Max to the party with them- after all, at least there they could keep an eye on him, and hopefully make sure he grew up to be more like her than Alec when it came to partying. But their mother insisted that Max was to come home for the weekend, probably to elevate some of the tension between her and Robert which made Isabelle and Alec very angry because Max wasn’t a tool to be used but since he was still a minor there wasn’t much they could do. At least he was old enough to get a permanent station at the institute so Maryse and Robert couldn’t order him back to Idris full time. Max sighed and sat down in front of his sister, crossing his legs, 

“Well I spent most of the weekend following mum around,” He began and Isabelle narrowed her eyes at him, trying to look stern though she could feel the smile tickling at the corners of her lips, classic Max… 

“Was she aware you were doing it?” She already knew the answer but felt compelled to ask, even though she wasn’t sure if she was going to praise or reprimand her brother- who said being your baby brother’s teacher was going to be easy? Max rolled his eyes as if the question was redundant, which in a way, it was. 

“Dad locked himself up in his study the whole weekend,” He explained, “So I decided to use my stealth rune and follow mum around,” Isabelle couldn’t help the proud smile, she loved how dedicated Max was to his studies, even if his methods were less than conventional, “And I saw her meeting with Zach.” 

“Zach?” Isabelle asked incredulously, “Our new medic?” Max nodded, and Isabelle frowned, what the hell did Zach have to do in Idris last weekend? Sure he wasn’t yet cleared for action so he mostly stayed in the infirmary and bitched to Tasha about it but why the hell didn’t he come to the party? From the way she saw him ogle Alec he would definitely have appreciated his looks on Saturday… Plus, she wasn’t all that averse to seeing Magnus take on him if he ogled too much… She couldn’t help it- the guy was rubbing off on her in all the wrong ways and she couldn’t even say why. Though this new piece of information could answer quite a lot of questions- nothing good could come from a meeting between Zach and Maryse, that was for sure. 

“Yes, I couldn’t get close enough to hear what they were saying,” Max said thoughtfully, completely missing his sister’s inner turmoil, “But it doesn’t really make sense, I thought Zach was, you know, like Alec...” Isabelle snapped from her thoughts and shook her head softly, 

“He is.” She told her brother, biting her lip thoughtfully. They needed to get to the bottom of this and fast, before this will tear their family completely apart- even if Zach was having an affair with Maryse and from some reason decided to act gay when in New-York it still didn’t bode well for their family and really, there was only one person who could give them answers right now, “Come on,” She said, rising to her feet and extending her hand to Max to pull him to his feet as well, 

“Where are we going?” He asked confused, things were happening too fast for him to follow and he knew that whatever Isabelle was thinking she was probably not going to tell him the full of it because he was ‘too young’- but how the hell was he supposed to learn things if people kept refusing to tell him? 

“We’re going to have a little talk with Zach!” She said firmly as she picked her staff from the floor and with a snap of her wrist it was back to being a beautiful silvery snake wreathed around her forearm. 

The two Lightwood siblings marched towards the infirmary, Isabelle with a furious look in her eyes that made her stride long and purposeful and Max trying to copy his sister but having to jog lightly to keep up, and making everyone they met in their way frown at them and clear their path, the universal truth of the New-York institute was- never mess with a pissed Lightwood! And when there were two of them… 

Zach looked up in surprise as the door to the infirmary banged open loudly. He watched as Isabelle and Max strode in, looking at him with murder in their eyes and gulped, what the hell? 

“Izzy, Max, what can I do for you?” He asked, trying to mask his nervousness with a cheerful tone that didn’t really have much affect on the two, 

“You can start talking!” Isabelle snapped sharply as she came to stand in front of the medic, her arms crossed over his chest. Max immediately took position next to her, mimicking her posture. Zach may only have been in the institute for a week but he already learned not to belittle Isabelle’s petite stature- the girl was quite a formidable fighter and dissing her because she had to look up at you when angry was a very foolish thing to do. Max was also growing to be a fine warrior under his siblings tutelage and besides, he was still young, there was always a chance he’d end up even taller than Alec. 

“About anything in particular?” Zach asked, trying to keep his smile friendly and not come across as if he was challenging either of them, but the pit of his stomach dropped, 

“What business do you have with our mother?” Isabelle asked, her eyes narrowed and her arms crossed over her chest, she really didn’t have the time or energy for silly games! 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Zach responded automatically but Max was having none of that, stepping forward and raising his chin, 

“Don’t lie, I saw you two meeting in Idris!” 

“Did you follow me?” Zach asked, the shock evident in his voice, why would Max Lightwood follow him around? They haven’t really talked since he got here, so he wasn’t even sure how Max knew who he was, 

“Not you,” Max answered with a roll of his eyes, “Her.” 

“That’s so rude...” Zach breathed out, that was even worse than following him around… 

“Enough!” Isabelle cried, annoyed that this was taking so long, she wanted answers and she wanted them now! Snapping her wrist she brought forward her snake and lashed it towards Zach, catching him in the chest in complete surprise, still looking at Max and fell backwards, tumbling into a chair. Without a pause Isabelle ordered her snake to wrap around Zach’s torso, effectively trapping the man’s arms against his body. Zach let out an enraged cry but neither Isabelle nor Max payed any attention to it. Isabelle walked over, still looking murderous, “How much is she paying you?” 

“What?” Zach was still trying to figure out what the hell was going on, one minute he was about to lecture Max on how rude it was to follow people around without their knowledge and the next minute he was tied to a chair with a very angry Isabelle looming over him, 

“How much is our mother paying you to do whatever she wants you to do?” She had to admit she wasn’t sure what she was going to do once Zach confessed, she certainly couldn’t top whatever payment he got from Maryse to get him on their side but she was pretty sure she could bribe him with something- after all, once you’ve accepted bribe it was a lot easier to take another. 

“She’s not paying me!” Zach snapped, he was actually offended by Isabelle’s suggestion that he would take a bribe. If only Maryse had offered money… “She’s blackmailing me!” Isabelle and Max exchanged an uneasy look, trying to figure out how to proceed, 

“What do you mean?” Max asked quietly, and Zach tried to shrug but realized it was too difficult and settled for eye rolling instead, 

“She found out I’ve been having…” He paused and cast a sidelong glance at Max, “Relationships, with men and threatened to turn me to the Clave.” Isabelle frowned, 

“That’s not a crime...” The hell it wasn’t! 

“Mundane men.” Zach explained softly and Isabelle’s mouth formed a silent ‘oh’ of understanding. The Clave didn’t see relationship of any sort with mundanes kindly. One of the most basic laws of shadowhunters was never engage with mundanes. They were not meant to know the shadow world existed at all. Simon was actually lucky, if you could call it that, that Camille had turned him otherwise both he and Clary could face charges from the Clave for refusing to stop hanging together and for Clary to bring him over to the institute, and Isabelle was pretty sure she and Alec and Jace would have been dragged into the mess as well at some point. 

“How did she find out about your… relationships?” Max rolled his eyes and threw his hands up, completely fed up, 

“I know you guys are talking about sex!” He reprimanded Isabelle and Zach, “Please stop saying ‘relationships’ and giving me weird looks!” Isabelle caught Zach’s eye and the two found they were trying to hide smiles, despite the situation. 

“Sorry Max,” Isabelle said, trying to regain the upper hand on the situation, they still needed information after all. Turning back to Zach she tried to school her features again, “What did she have you do in exchange for her silence?” Zach looked between the two, knowing he was in for it, but in a way he was glad this was over, because he really did not enjoy the situation, 

“She wanted me to steal Alec away from his warlock.” He answered quietly, his eyes on the floor and almost cringed when he heard the double intake of surprised breaths. He found he was actually feeling sorry for them, the Lightwood family was always one of the most formidable families in Idris, they always projected an air of strength and seemed to be the epitome of Idris and shadowhunter society. But as it turned out, even the Lightwoods were not immune and the cracks in the family facade could no longer be hidden. 

“That bitch!” Isabelle cried, unable to stop herself even for Max’s sake. She started pacing in front of her prisoner, her face dark with fury as she tried to figure out what to do next, 

“Look, I didn’t do...” Zach started to explain but she turned viciously to him, cutting off his speech with a wave of her arm, 

“Shut up!” She yelled at him, before she stopped her pacing and turned to face him, “I’m taking you to Alec,” She said, her voice low and dangerous, “He’s the one who should decide what to do with you.” Zach felt his heart sink, he knew this was going to come, he knew he had no chance in hell of keeping this a secret forever but he had hoped for a little more time. Being in the New-York institute was a dream come true, and he hadn’t lied to Alec when he said he was happy to get the post. 

“Can you at least release me?” He asked softly. Sure, he was a disgrace and he was probably going to end up back in Idris having to explain how he managed to get kicked out after a week but as long as he was here he wanted to save a bit of dignity and that meant walking the halls freely and not tied up with a silver snake. Isabelle gave him a long look before looking at her brother. Max nodded his head slightly- between him and Izzy they could make sure the guy got to Alec’s office without escaping. Isabelle returned the nod and called back her whip to her. Zach moved his arms around, trying to regain circulation and got up from the chair, allowing Isabelle to grab his arm and guide him to the door and to his doom.


	15. Chapter XV

Isabelle opened the door to Alec’s office quietly, knowing her brother was going to be there, because he was rarely anywhere else these days. She was however, surprised to see Jace there as well, the two of them were bickering in low voices, and smiling at each other and Isabelle couldn’t help mirroring that smile. It was good to see them both act like parabatai again. Next to her Zach was having a hard time taking his eyes off the two gorgeous men in the room who looked so comfortable with each other. Damn, the whole parabatai thing was so homo-erotic, how the hell did he not get one of those? 

“Hey Izzy, Max, what’s going on?” Alec asked as he turned to his siblings, his smile slipping away at the sight of Zach between them. Zach thought it was a real shame, because Alec did have a really nice smile- too bad he was saving it for family only. 

“Zach has something he wants to say,” Isabelle said as she practically pushed the medic forward. Zach tried not to stumble as he glared at her over his shoulder, 

“What’s going on?” Jace asked as he came to stand in front of Alec’s desk, folding his arms over his chest. Alec remained seated for now but Zach could see how tense he’s become. He didn’t need to be in this institute for years to know that these four were going to work very well together in bringing him down and he really had no desire to fight three of the shadow world finest, so he needed to chose his words carefully. 

“Your mother is blackmailing me.” Wow, Zach, that was… inspiring… He thought with a mental eye roll at himself, 

“What do you mean blackmailing you?” Alec asked softly, his eyes fixed on Zach who felt like squirming under the intense gaze. Damn Alec had beautiful eyes… If only he had come here a year ago… Before the warlock… 

“She found out he’s having sex with mundane men and wants him to break you and Magnus up.” Isabelle supplied helpfully and Zach rolled his eyes, thank you Izzy! 

“What?” Jace’s enraged yell caused pretty much everyone in the room to jump up a little, “You were going to break Alec and Magnus up?” 

“No!” Zach cried, trying to make things clear once and for all, yes he was in the middle of a shitstorm and there was no way he was going to come out unscathed but he was going to say his peace even if it killed him! “I didn’t do it!” He said firmly, fixing his eyes on Alec, sensing he was the only one who might actually listen, “Look, I realized I couldn’t do anything the second I saw you and your…” Pausing for a second when he saw Alec’s eyes narrowing he tried to smile, “Magnus together. For you, no one else in the world exists. Hell, I wish someone would look at me like that...” He could see the way Alec’s cheeks pinked slightly and found he was dead jealous of a warlock. A warlock! How was that fair? This was why he preferred sleeping with mundanes- no shadow world politics, no accords or anything like that. It was so much simpler, and with a glamour on, he didn’t even have to explain anything. 

“You’re pathetic!” Isabelle sneered behind his back but Zach didn’t turn, his eyes never leaving Alec’s, 

“I figured I’d tell your mother I was working on it and just try to keep things neutral for as long as I could.” He knew he sounded like he was trying to save his ass by lying or trying to make himself look better but it was the truth. He didn’t like the basic idea of breaking up anyone, especially if they were gay, and as soon as he saw Alec and Magnus together this feeling intensified. Besides, he wasn’t lying, he really didn’t think he could do it- he tried to sweet talk Alec once and the guy was completely oblivious, which was good for Magnus but really bad for Zach’s ego... 

“You think you can save your pathetic skin by lying?” Jace growled, looking murderous, as did Isabelle who came to stand next to him, both forming a wall in front of Zach and almost hiding Alec, luckily Isabelle wasn’t tall enough to achieve that, “Well, guess what- that’s not going to help you! You’re going back to Idris!” 

“No!” Jace and Isabelle turned to look stunned at Alec, who was still sitting behind his desk, looking serious and commanding, 

“Alec, what do you mean ‘no’?” Isabelle asked, her voice slightly shocked, surely if anyone had a real cause to get that creep out of here and into the hands of the Clave as soon as possible it was Alec. “He just admitted he tried to...” Alec lifted his hand to stop her, this was so much more complicated than just sending this poor guy to be trialled. He knew it, and he bet Maryse knew it and that was why she chose Zach in the first place. 

“Nobody is going to Idris.” He said firmly and Zach found he was actually sagging in relief. He didn’t care what they were going to do to him, even if Alec decided to lock him in the basement of the institute for the rest of eternity it was better than going to stand trial in Idris. Alec took a moment to gather his thoughts, trying to decide what to do. Right now, this was all on him, making the decision that was going to change Zach’s life, and his. Because if he just sent a man to the Clave for no real reason it was going to be on his conscience and besides, the repercussions of sending someone like Zach to the Clave… “The Berlin institute has asked us for an exchange,” He began slowly, checking his plan while he was speaking to make sure it was solid enough, “I was contemplating who to send there, and I think I’ll send you.” 

“You’re exiling me to Europe?” Zach cried before he could stop himself. Alec lifted an unimpressed eyebrow, 

“Would you rather I send you to the Clave?” Zach did a double take and then gave an uneasy smile, 

“Nope, Berlin sounds amazing!” After all, how hard was it to learn German, right? Alec tried to hold back a smile, for now ignoring his fuming siblings, he knew very well that both Isabelle and Jace were not happy with his decision and he really wanted to get Zach out of the room before the shit will hit the fan. 

“You will continue working in the infirmary until we finalize the details of the move. You are not allowed to go on the field. In fact, you’re not allowed to leave the institute, is that clear?” Zach nodded once, knowing he was given much more than he deserved and was mighty glad it was Alec who gave the orders and not Jace because by the look of it the blond was ready to strangle him with his bare hands, forget sending him over to Idris. 

“Thank you.” He told Alec with all the sincerity he could convey and slipped out of the door before anyone said anything else. The second the door closed Isabelle swooped in on her brother, 

“What the hell was that?” She cried, her arm flung towards the door, “You just let him go? With a reward?” 

“Sending Zach to Berlin isn’t a reward.” Alec said softly, standing firmly by his decision, 

“He should be on trial, not on vacation.” Jace added his two cents and Alec found he was starting to lose his grip on the calmness he wasn’t really feeling, 

“Really?” He cried, looking from one sibling to the other, “You think I should send him to stand trial for what? Trying to break something the Clave wants gone?” Because the Clave didn’t seem all that eager to keep him and Magnus together, as shown by the fact his mother only had to ask and they granted her a ban for Magnus. If he sent Zach to stand trial the Clave would probably reward him for his good work! Isabelle and Jace looked at each other, knowing Alec was right but that still didn’t sit well- Zach should have been punished for something! 

“I still think he should be put on trial for something...” Jace mumbled and Alec truly had enough. Raising to his feet he planted his hands on the desk and glared at them both, 

“Nobody is going on trial!” He practically yelled at them, trying to get this through their thick heads, “This is my decision and it’s final, is that clear?” 

“Your decision sucks!” Isabelle yelled back before she turned on her heel and marched angrily out of the room, Jace following closely behind. Alec slumped back into his chair, folded his arms and dropped his head on them, completely drained. He didn’t even notice that Max, who stayed quiet and watchful ever since they walked into Alec’s office, slipped out of the room, phone in hand. 

How could they possibly think he should have sent Zach to Idris? On what charges exactly? Because the way Alec saw it, it was either sending him because he was trying to break him and Magnus up, which wouldn’t hold or worse- sending him to stand trial for sleeping with mundane men. He knew he couldn’t do either, if Zach was to stand trial for the second reason it would soon turn into a spectacle trial and Zach’s sexual orientation was going to be judged even more than his deeds, and that was something Alec couldn’t allow- not only because Zach didn’t deserve that but also because he wasn’t going to give the Clave any more ammunition against him or anyone like him. Up until his wedding, or rather, his very public coming out the Clave never had to give an opinion on such things- if there had been gay shadowhunters before Alec they had hidden themselves so well that nobody actually knew about them. But now Alec had unveiled something the Clave didn’t want to deal with and for now, as long as Alec and ‘his kind’ didn’t do anything against the law the Clave was more than happy to keep ignoring them. Alec understood this fragile balance well enough and for now was grateful for the status quo, but he needed to make sure Izzy and Jace understood it as well. He wished Magnus was here to explain this, because he was so much better with words than Alec ever was and Alec had a feeling that his siblings had grown to trust his partner’s word more than his. 

“Hello, lover.” Alec’s head snapped up in shock at the cheery voice that greeted him, 

“Magnus...” He breathed, shock evident in his voice, his heart pounding loudly in his ears, how was that possible? “I was just thinking about you…” Suddenly his eyes grew wide, “Did I summon you?” Magnus let out a derisive snort and walked over to his shocked fiancé, coming to Alec’s side of the desk and hopping elegantly to sit on top of it, crossing his legs, 

“I may have demon blood, but I’m not that easily summoned!” He gently reprimanded Alec, who still looked at him like he’d seen a ghost. It was actually a good look for him, Magnus decided, as he leaned and gave him a small peck on the lips, “Max called me and said you needed me a.s.a.p.” Alec relaxed a little and braved a small smile- OK, this made much more sense… “What happened?” Alec sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, trying to decide how to explain things to Magnus, 

“You know Zach?” He asked softly, 

“The new medic who keeps trying to get into your pants?” Magnus asked lightly, but his body tensed, if that medic did anything to his Alexander- there will be casualties, accords be damned! 

“He doesn’t try...” Alec started automatically, as he did every time Magnus thought someone was trying to hit on him and he didn’t see it, but then he stopped and frowned, he couldn’t really say that Zach hasn’t tried, right? “Anyway, it turns out that my mum had been blackmailing him over his affiliations with mundane men to try and break us up...” 

“Well...” Magnus breathed out, that was definitely an unexpected turn of events… “Never underestimate a mother’s hate for her son’s boyfriend...” Alec opened his mouth, probably to apologize for his mother’s actions, but Magnus shook his head, he wasn’t going to let Alec take the blame on this one. “So, what did you do?” 

“I sent him to Berlin.” Alec answered with a sigh, 

“Because of its vibrant gay scene?” Magnus asked slowly, trying to get to the bottom of this because that was a pretty random answer on Alec’s part. Alec shook his head, 

“No, it’s an exchange thing...” Magnus nodded, this actually made more sense. He had known for years that institutes all over the world did that sort of thing, after all he’s dealt with shadowhunters a lot longer than Alec ever did. To Magnus it seemed like a perfectly reasonable solution- hell, anything that took that sex fiend of a medic away from his fiancé was a marvelous idea! 

“So why are you still upset? Sounds like a perfectly good solution to me.” 

“Izzy and Jace don’t think so...” Ah, thought Magnus, of course. He should have guessed the source of Alec’s stress was family related. Nothing could get Alec this upset other than a good fight with Izzy or Jace. “They think I should have turned him over to the Clave.” 

“Well, that’s not going to do any good to anybody,” Magnus said thoughtfully, “If you shadowhunters had any sort of gay rights movement that would have been the death of it.” Alec felt a small smile tugging at his lips, he was so glad Magnus understood, 

“I know, but Izzy and Jace don’t understand that...” Magnus laid a soft hand on Alec’s arm, knowing this was killing his man. Alec would do anything for his family, sometimes even at the cost of his own happiness and well being, but now he was putting his foot down and choosing his principles over their hot headed attitude and they were pissed, and Alec was hurt- badly, 

“Izzy and Jace never had to understand.” Magnus said thoughtfully, straight people, as supportive as they were could rarely understand what it felt like or the full extant of the fight for gay rights. Even Alec didn’t understand most of the time, only recently allowing himself to actually acknowledge it, but Magnus had been around for the whole ride- he was there long before it began, watching friends who couldn’t hide well enough going to jail and concentration camps, he was there for the riots and protests when people were finally fed up with being abused, he was there for the AIDS epidemic losing more than one friend in the process and then the tide changed and things started to work the right way with marriage equality and gay rights but he knew the fight was far from over, and he also knew that if you weren’t in it, if it didn’t touch you personally than most people couldn’t understand. Support yes, but not truly understand. 

“Lucky them...” Alec grumbled quietly, looking quite petulant and that made Magnus smile, 

“Alec, look at me,” He said softly, putting his finger under Alec’s chin and lifting it, “You did good.” Alec wanted to roll his eyes, how the hell does any of this can be considered good? “You found a very creative solution to a very difficult problem. I’m proud of you.” Smiling Magnus leaned over and captured Alec’s lips in a soft kiss, which Alec returned happily. This was actually what he needed right now, Magnus’ love and support. Because he knew that as long as he had both of those things he was able to withstand anything- even Izzy and Jace being mad at him. A small cough was heard from the door and the two men broke apart to look at Max standing at the door blushing fiercely, trying to look anywhere but at his brother and Magnus,

“Hmm… I just…” He stammered a little before he managed to straightened up and take a deep breath, “I just wanted to let you know that Jace has run off somewhere and that I’m taking Izzy over to the ‘Jade wolf’ to train with Simon and Maia for a bit.” Alec smiled fondly at his brother, so glad Max was not mad at him as well- in fact, Max taking charge like that was showing a lot of maturity and Alec was very proud of him, 

“What a marvelous idea!” Magnus cried happily as he hopped down from the desk, “I think I’ll join you, young Max. This one,” He added, jerking his thumb at Alec, “Hardly puts up a fight anymore...” 

“Hey!” Alec cried, knowing that Magnus was just teasing but unable to let this blatant disregard of his skills go without comeback, “I can take you old man! Anytime, anywhere!” Magnus gave a predatory smile as he leaned above Alec, 

“Good, I will hold you to that when you get home tonight.” He told his lover in a husky tone, sealing the deal with a deep kiss before he straightened, smiling broadly as both Alec and Max blushed furiously. Walking over to the door Magnus guided the young shadowhunter out, delighted with the knowledge that Alec was going to have a very hard afternoon...


	16. Chapter XVI

“Iiiiiiizzzzzzyyyyyy, stop!” To his immense shame Alec found he was bordering on whining, but he couldn’t help it, Isabelle was on his case and she wasn’t letting up! The two of them were sitting on the couch in his office, taking a well deserved break from work and chatting happily. Alec was glad that after Isabelle stormed out the other day Magnus had caught up with her at the ‘Jade Wolf’ and talked to her, explaining everything Alec couldn’t. The next morning she came to him, looking contrite and miserable and apologized. It would have been a tear filled reunion had they not been Lightwoods… but it was still very emotional and Alec was so glad and relieved she was back. Jace, as he always did, pretty much forgot all about the Zach issue the next day- he still resented the medic and refused to let him check him over when he was injured in a demon attack but he accepted Alec’s decision and didn’t even resent his parabatai for it. Alec knew he was going to need both of them in his continuous fight against their mother, a fight in which he, so far, managed to gain the upper hand with creative solutions, but to be honest he was starting to dread. Surely Maryse realized by now that the only way to drag her son away from Magnus was to eliminate the warlock and Alec really didn’t want things to get that far. 

“What? I’m serious! You need to start planning your wedding!” Isabelle wasn’t going to take no for an answer on this one, Alec was sure. If she was enthusiastic about helping with his first wedding one can only dread how excited she’ll be for this one… A part of Alec wanted to just tell her to talk to Magnus and leave him alone- after all the two showed they could work very well together in planning a party, but that was exactly the problem. They were too good at it and Alec knew he couldn’t let them do whatever they wanted lest he ended up doing things he really, really didn’t want to do! The main problem was that while this was a golden opportunity to build bridges in the shadow world Alec didn’t really want his wedding to turn into a publicity event for co-operation, peace and the betterment of all, he wasn’t marrying Magnus because he was a warlock but because he loved him. This time he wasn’t marrying for political reasons and he didn’t want to turn his wedding into a political one. If it was up to Alec the guest list will consist of ten guests, nine if Clary annoyed him too much! 

“Why?” He asked with a loud groan, if this was going to be his life from now on, he would have to stop talking to Izzy! 

“You can’t stay engaged forever!” Isabelle rolled her eyes, sure Alec hated attention and all that crap but she thought he’d be a little more excited about His. Own. Wedding! At least this time he actually wanted it. 

“Why not?” Isabelle gave her brother a scanting glare- was Alec serious? If it had been anyone else she might have thought they were joking or trying to rile her up, but this was Alec so it was very possible this was a genuine question… 

“Because I know you, and you don’t want to call Magnus your fiancé for the rest of your life.” She deadpanned and Alec rolled his eyes, 

“I’m not marrying Magnus just so I can call him my husband!” Even as he was saying it he could feel his face heating up- he couldn’t deny that the idea of going around telling everyone Magnus was his husband was making him tingling all over. 

“It feels good, doesn’t it?” Isabelle, that nothing her brother did could escape her, especially not his blushes and definitely not when it came to Magnus because when it came to the high warlock of Brooklyn Alec was worse than a 14 years old girl with a crush…

“Yes...” Alec admitted softly, yes it felt good, it was perfect! But that still didn’t mean he was willing to turn his wedding into a spectacle, though it was a little hard to remember why he cared so much when the reward of making a life with Magnus was so much more important than a stupid ceremony. Isabelle started giggling and Alec tried to swat at her, soon the two of them were rolling on the sofa, fighting like they did when they were little, shrieking and laughing. The door of the office opened and in stepped Maryse Lightwood, her face grim and her expression darkening when she saw her two eldest goofing around. Alec and Isabelle saw her and immediately straightened up, going from a tangled mess of limbs to two perfectly behaved people sitting with backs straights in less than ten seconds, which was saying something for their education. 

“Mum, what are you doing here?” Isabelle blurted, trying discreetly to comb her hair with her fingers. She hated that whenever one of their parents was around, especially Maryse they were both reduced to acting like that, but they couldn’t help it- it was stronger than them. 

“I need to talk to you both.” Maryse said coldly as she walked to lean against the big desk in the room, crossing her arms over her chest. Her eyes flicked to the smaller desk in the room, instantly knowing it was Alec’s by the way it was organized and clean of knick-knacks. On the sofa Alec and Isabelle exchanged a look, wondering how this was going to develop. “I have decided to leave your father.” Alec and Isabelle exchanged another uneasy look, wondering what the hell… 

“Why? I thought you two decided to stay together for the sake of the family name.” Isabelle, who seemed to have taken the unofficial role of spokesperson for her and Alec, asked while crossing her own arms over her chest- she may have the instinct to be meek and respectful in the past to either one of her parents, but that feeling was gone the second her mother started meddling so shamelessly in her brother’s life. Maryse let out a humorless snort,

“The family name...” She mused almost to herself, sneering softly, “What is left of that?” Alec and Isabelle frowned, Maryse didn’t even notice as she started her rant, “Between your father’s infidelity and your brother’s… very poor choices,” Alec felt his body tensing, and Isabelle quickly put her hand on his knee to calm him, both their eyes never leaving their mother, “Not to mention your dalliances...” Now it was Alec’s turn to put his hand on Isabelle’s knee for comfort, “The Lightwood name is the joke of Idris, and I decided I don’t want to fight for it anymore. It’s time I was happy too.” Alec and Isabelle exchanged a look, silently communicating and trying to understand what their mother was saying. Out of all of them, Maryse was of course the one who had a choice over her name and it seemed she decided to turn her back on Lightwood, and probably her children too. It hurt, they could not deny that, even after everything she did to Alec lately and the way she’s been treating Isabelle for years, it still hurt. 

“When the hell did you fight for us?” She spat bitterly, “All you do is fight against us.” 

“Izzy...” Alec said softly, knowing how much their mother’s words were hurting his sister. While he used to enjoy a somewhat more privileged status when it came to the relationship with their mother Isabelle had always had it hard. No matter what she did it was never good enough for Maryse and Alec knew that despite how much she tried to project like she didn’t care she was hurt, badly. 

“You can do whatever you want, you’ve always done that.” Alec winced a little at yet another verbal barb sent by their mother. He knew his relationship with her was ruined the second he chose Magnus over the respectable and politically solid Lydia, but for a long time he harbored a hope that they’d be able to move past that. Turns out his father has done his share to break her spirit and now she was washing her hands of the lot of them. “You should end this stupid charade and take back command. Let poor Jace live his life in peace.” Seriously? After everything Jace was still the favorite son? 

“What about Magnus?” Isabelle asked, “What about the Clave’s decision?” It was clear from what Maryse was saying, or rather what she wasn’t saying that she was going to stop hunting Alec and Magnus, which was a good thing, but still left quite a few questions open. 

“A Clave’s decision isn’t that easily overturned.” Isabelle gritted her teeth, fighting the urge to stand up and start yelling expletives at her mother. Before she could open her mouth Alec locked eyes with Maryse, who looked down at him unimpressed, 

“Thank you for the information, Maryse,” He said, his voice icy, every muscle in his body screaming for him to jump up and pace around the room, but he forced himself to stay still, hoping- no, needing to win this one over his mother, “The next time you want to talk to us please make an appointment.” A small curl of Maryse’s upper lip was the only outward sign of her rage, but her eyes were glaring at her son and Isabelle found she wanted to jump and whoop, maybe do a little dance and an ‘in your face!’ song. Maryse didn’t even bother to look at her daughter and simply turned, her long ponytail swishing and walked as calmly as she could to the door. 

As soon as the door closed both sibling felt the tension in the room drop significantly and melted against the sofa. That was tough, and pretty devastating because Maryse had just turned her back to her family and that hurt. Their hands found each other, clasping together holding tightly to one another, knowing that the family they had known was never going to be same. 

“Are you alright?” Alec asked softly and Isabelle shrugged, not willing to commit.

“You?” Now it was Alec’s turn to shrug, before he took a deep breath, 

“No.” Wrapping her arm around her brother Isabelle felt like crying. Part of her was mourning the loss of a mother, because despite of their differences and fights she always believed that a family rose above all disagreements and stayed a family- forever. But most of her was relieved, because this pointless fight was over. They were going to be alright, they had each other, she and Alec and both of them needed to be there for Max, who was still so young and didn’t deserve any of this. 

“We’ll be fine...” She whispered, feeling Alec’s arm going around her shoulder and pressing her tightly to his chest. Alec hated thinking about his sister breaking, Izzy was normally so strong, she was always his pillar and he was hers. He was mighty glad for it now, knowing they were going to have to readjust their views of their family. Because even if Robert came to apologize, which Alec wasn’t at all sure he would, their relationship with Maryse was over. He wondered if Maryse’s dismissal of them was going to be extended to Max as well, and he couldn’t decide if he wanted this to be or not. He knew both he and Isabelle were going to do anything they could to protect Max, but if Maryse decided she wanted him to stay with her and tear him away from his siblings and their ‘harmful influence’ there wasn’t much they could legally do. 

“Guys, what’s going on?” Both Alec and Isabelle looked up to see Jace closing the door behind him, his face etched with confusion and seeing both his siblings clinging to each other on the sofa, worry as well, “Mum just found me in the ops center and announced in front of everyone that you were back in command...” Alec and Isabelle exchanged an incredulous look, oh the nerve of that woman! 

“She came to tell us she’s leaving dad,” Alec said softly, and Jace gaped at him in shock, 

“They’re getting divorced?” Jace was rubbing the back of his neck, trying to make sense of this. Part of him wanted to go and join the cuddle party on the sofa but from some reason that felt too personal, too Lightwood for him to join in. He was always going to be grateful to Maryse and Robert for taking him in and raising him alongside those two before him, but he knew that as far as Maryse was concerned he wasn’t part of the reason she decided to leave, so he didn’t feel like he had a right to be part of the grief. Besides, family didn’t really mean the same to him as it did to Alec and Isabelle, hell the amount of newfound relatives he’s gone through in only a short number of months could make anyone’s head spin! 

“I don’t know,” Isabelle said, her voice clearly indicating she didn’t care as well, “But nothing has changed. She made sure of it.” 

“No, things are going to change.” Alec said firmly as he untangled himself from Isabelle and rose to his feet, looking between Jace and Isabelle, “From now on I’m going to need you both to step up, if we are going to run this place we need to do it together.” Isabelle felt a smile tugging at her lips, and even Jace’s face brightened. It was so good to see Alec growing into his leadership, feeling much more comfortable to take what he needed. “We are going to have a daily meeting at the end of each day to discuss what is going on and you,” He turned to Jace, who quirked an eyebrow at him, “Are going to do your job without complaining!” Jace rolled his eyes but instead of an answer he grabbed Alec’s arm and pulled him into a tight hug, much to Isabelle’s delight. 

“Well, if I’m still the head of this place, my first order is for the two of you to take the rest of the day off.” Jace said, folding his arms over his chest and looking between his two siblings with firm eyes. Alec, naturally, opened his mouth to protest, but he caught Isabelle’s eye and realized he won’t be able to concentrate on work right now. They both needed time to process the shock they had just received and for once work wasn’t going to be their escape. Besides, the more he thought about it the more he wanted Magnus’ arms around him, his calm voice washing over him as he told his fiancé his woes.


	17. Chapter XVII

“Magnus?” Alec called as opened the door to the loft, looking around him for his fiancé, but Magnus was nowhere to be seen. Shrugging off his jacket and boots Alec made a beeline to the kitchen. He realized he was hungry about halfway home but didn’t feel like stopping anywhere before he saw Magnus. But since Magnus wasn’t home he may as well eat something- the emotional roller-coaster of the morning left him both physically exhausted and hungry as well as emotionally drained. 

Opening the fridge Alec peered inside and sighed, this was truly depressing… Between the fact neither he nor Magnus had time to shop, and Magnus insistence they either eat outside or order in the fridge was virtually empty. Alec loved eating out, he couldn’t deny that, especially after all the years in the institute and Izzy’s ‘cooking’ but he had to admit that sometimes he wished both he Magnus were better at cooking, because right now his soul yearned for a home cooked meal to counter the loss of his mother. Not that he would know what a home cooked dinner tasted like, because at least Maryse didn’t try to inflict inedible concoctions on them as children, which was really no surprise Isabelle was so bad at it. With a sigh he pulled a jar of olives and popped one into his mouth while he contemplated his options. 

“Hello my Alexander...” The purring voice made Alec freeze for a second in shock, before he turned to look at Magnus who had his elbows at the top of the fridge door, looking at him with a wide, happy smile, “What are you doing?” Alec swallowed the olive he was chewing and smiled, 

“Hey Magnus, I thought you were out.” Magnus rolled his eyes a little and leaned forward and Alec happily closed the distance between them to kiss him. “How come we don’t have anything real to eat here?” Pushing himself away from the fridge door Magnus walked around it and pulled the jar of olives from Alec, slapping his hands away in the process, 

“Because we never actually eat here,” He told his fiancé firmly, “Now tell me what you want to eat, and stop wasting my cocktails olives!” Now it was Alec’s turn to roll his eyes but he let Magnus guide him to sit at the stool by the counter and close the fridge’s door. 

“I just wanted a sandwich or something.” Alec said, knowing that right now his dreams of a table laden with food someone cooked with all their love for him would have to wait, but that didn’t mean he needed to starve, because a couple of measly olives were far from enough for anyone, let alone someone his size. Magnus smiled and with a flashy snap of his fingers the counter was filled with sandwiches, in all sizes, shapes and fillings. Alec smiled as he reached for the roll of towel paper and tore squares for him and Magus while the warlock magicked a bottle of juice to accompany the meal. Reaching for a sandwich Alec tried to discreetly check what was in it but caught Magnus’ disproving glare. Straightening up he grabbed the sandwich and bit into it, feeling a little self conscious. Once the initial hunger was curbed he turned a happy smile at Magnus, who was daintily eating his own sandwich, 

“So, how was your day?” The whole scene felt so domestic and right and Alec realized he didn’t want to taint it with the mention of Maryse or her exploits. Right now he wanted to hear Magnus talk, and he didn’t even care what he was talking about, 

“Not as good as I had hoped for...” Magnus sighed, and Alec felt like pouting- could nothing work right for him today? “I had a client who asked for a certain potion, and when the time came he refused to pay the amount we agreed on!” Magnus complained loudly, he hated days when clients wasted his time, but he also felt like he couldn’t take money in advance, what if he botched the potion? It was a matter of professional pride, and a rule that Magnus had stuck to for centuries, even if sometimes things like this happened. 

“Oh shit,” Alec said sympathetically, “What did you do?” 

“I told him that if he wasn’t going to pay he wasn’t going to get the potion.” Magnus said in his best no nonsense voice as he selected another sandwich from the tray, noting that if he wanted to eat his fill he better do it fast because Alec was already on his third sandwich. 

“And?” 

“He left.” Magnus answered simply and Alec deflated a little, 

“Damn!” He cursed softly, knowing how much Magnus hated having his work done for nothing. It wasn’t that Magnus needed the money so much that his professional integrity was compromised and for a warlock professional integrity was everything. 

“Yeah, and now I have a completely useless potion I can’t even sell because it was tailored specifically for that client and four hours wasted.” Magnus ranted, quite happy to get this out of his system. He was mighty glad that Alec was home in the middle of the day to elevate his bad mood on this wasted work day, but naturally that meant something happened in the institute. Magnus also knew that Alec would come to him when he felt ready and tell him what had happened, so for now he was happy to just keep his man fed and entertained, “And to think I could have done so much in that time...” 

“Like what?” Alec asked as he browsed through the sandwiches tray trying to find something he liked after he realized he just ate all the bacon ones, and was only half listening to Magnus, 

“I could be writing erotic literature,” Magnus said lightly, biting on a smile when he saw the way Alec’s head snapped up and his eyes grew wide, “Oscar Wilde always said I had quite the talent for it, though I suspect he was only trying to get into my breeches...” 

“Oscar Wilde?” Alec asked miserably, because if his day hadn’t been bad enough he now had to listen to Magnus reminiscing about his affair with Oscar fucking Wilde? Seeing Alec’s expression Magnus smiled softly, he couldn’t help it- it still felt a little bit good to have Alec feeling jealous of long dead people. 

“I’ll have you know I never slept with Oscar.” He informed Alec primly, “His thing with Bosie was far too toxic for anyone to get in between.” Alec nodded with a frown, feeling a little easier every time he learned Magnus didn’t sleep with someone, even though he had no idea what Magnus was talking about. “He was, however, wonderfully entertaining to hang around with. You have nothing to worry about.” Alec wanted to roll his eyes, 

“I’m not worried about Oscar Wilde!” Anymore… “I’m worried about you writing porn!” 

“It’s erotic literature,” Magnus corrected, “There’s a difference.” The look on Alec’s face informed him he wasn’t at all impressed by this and Magnus couldn’t help the wide smile spreading on his face, Alec was just too easy… “Alright, I promise that if I do decide to write erotic literature I shall do it under an assumed name.” If Alec had been less freaked by the words ‘erotic literature’ he would have realized that if Magnus hadn’t done that by now he probably wouldn’t start today of all days, but it was still fun to vex his nephilim. “So, how was your day?” 

“My mother came to visit.” Ah, the plot thickens, Magnus thought, no wonder Alec was stressed and nervous and eating half a tray of sandwiches without noticing. “She said she’s leaving dad.” The news caught Magnus quite by surprise, after all the main thing he’s learned about the Lightwood family since he met Alec was that the name and what they projected to the world was the most important thing. Turns out even Maryse had her breaking point. 

“Are you OK?” Alec shrugged, trying to put his feelings into words. 

“I don’t know...” He confessed, knowing that Magnus would understand, and indeed the warlock slid from his stool and came to stand in front of Alec, situating himself between the shadowhunter’s legs and wrapping his arms tightly around him. Alec melted into the hug and buried his face in Magnus’ neck. He could feel his body starting to shake a little, but his eyes remained dry. He wasn’t going to waste tears on Maryse, not after what she did and not after the way she left, but it still hurt. “She… She broke up with us...” 

“Oh, Alexander…” Magnus rubbed soft circles on the back of his fiancé, trying to be strong for him. Mother anguish, he knew a thing or two about that! Over the centuries Magnus had come to realize he was quite lucky in a way, because he was too young when his mother took her life and didn’t really get to know her. Sure it hurt at the time, and it never stopped hurting but he had spent so many years on his own he couldn’t even remember what it was like when she was alive, while Alec- Alec spent his entire life surrounded by family, and now it was all falling apart. Magnus could have told him that it wasn’t the end of the world, that he wasn’t left all alone to fend for himself, he had Isabelle and Jace and Max with him and he only needed to readjust his views of family a little and find new people to fill the voids. But he also knew that what Alec needed was time, and even a powerful warlock such as Magnus Bane could not speed up time for his lover. So he just held Alec in his arms, until the shaking stopped and Alec pulled back softly, taking a deep breath through his nose and letting out a small chuckle, 

“I guess I’m just really bad at taking rejection, huh?” Magnus rolled his eyes, Alec was deflecting again, shutting down his pain and anger. At least these days he was willing to admit he was actually hurt, so Magnus supposed that was progress, 

“Please,” He admonished Alec softly, “She’s your mother, not some twink you met in a club, of course it’s going to hurt. A lot.” Rubbing his hands on Alec’s arms, Magnus gazed into the hazel eyes sincerely, “But I’m here for you, you know that.” Alec nodded and tried to battle the prickly feeling in his eyes, he wasn’t going to cry for Maryse but the love and adoration he saw in Magnus’ eyes were going to undo him, 

“I know,” He muttered hoarsely, “You’re my family…” The smile that spread on Magnus’ face made Alec want to cry even more. Even if they weren’t engaged Magnus was his family, because he was beginning to realize what the warlock had meant when he said about choosing your own family. For years Alec had been secure in the knowledge that family was what you were born into, who your blood was and only later in life, who you married. But since he met Magnus he realized that there were other types of families, other ways to create that little haven in your life, and he knew that this knowledge and Magnus’ help was going to be invaluable in dealing with the falling apart of his own blood family. Pulling Magnus closer to him again he whispered in the warlock’s ear, “It’s not like we were going to invite her to the wedding anyway…” Magnus snorted softly, both glad of the change of subject and a little worried with Alec’s deflection. But he knew his fiancé well enough to know that he needed to give Alec time so for now he was willing to go along, 

“Izzy gave you the wedding plans speech?” He loved Isabelle, he truly did- she was feisty and loyal and charming and so much like her brother- only the fun version of him and Magnus was mighty glad she was going to be his sister-in-law, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t rolling his eyes whenever she mentioned the wedding, because both he and Alec were in no hurry to have one. They couldn’t marry according to shadowhunters rules, nor could they marry according to mundane laws since they didn’t even exist as far as those were concerned and warlocks so rarely married that they didn’t even have a ceremony to show for. He and Alec were already sharing a home and a life together so marriage seemed like a very poor excuse just to have a party. So while Magnus was very happy Isabelle wanted to take things further he knew he had to keep her at bay for as long as he could, for the sake of Alec, of course. 

“I fear we may need to elope. And soon.” Alec said seriously and Magnus couldn’t help the chuckle escaping his lips. He wondered where Alec got the idea of eloping, probably from Simon and Clary… To be honest, that didn’t sound like a bad idea… 

“Just say the word, Alexander,” He breathed softly against Alec’s lips, unable to resist his beautiful nephilim any longer, “And I will take you to the moon...” Alec pulled back from the kiss, his eyes wide and surprised, 

“You can do that?” Magnus rolled his eyes, serves him right for falling in love with the most logical person on the face of the planet… 

“No… not really,” He confessed, and was very amused to see the fleeting look of disappointment on Alec’s face. If he thought there was something even remotely interesting on the moon he’d probably have gone there years ago, but it was still funny to see Alec’s face. “But I can take you to Paris,” He purred softly, pulling Alec off his stool and walking them to the living room, still holding each other tight, “Right now! We can have a romantic dinner, it’s still early there.” He was about to turn to make a portal when Alec’s hands stopped him, his voice bubbling with laughter, 

“Wait! We just ate!” He cried and Magnus deflated a little, that was true enough… But by the time they were hungry again it would be too late to go- damn that time difference thing! Alec, on the other hand, didn’t seem all that disappointed about not going to Paris straight away, instead he wrapped his arms more firmly around Magnus, and rubbed his nose on the soft skin under the warlock’s ear, causing Magnus to shudder slightly with pleasure, “Anyway, I kinda want to stay here and… do things…” Magnus smiled widely, his hands going to Alec’s ass and squeezing softly, 

“You mean like practicing for our wedding night?” He purred back softly and Alec rolled his eyes, pulling back a little so he could look at Magnus, 

“You’re not going to let me forget that one, are you?” It wasn’t his fault that Magnus was too sexy and he couldn’t really think properly when the warlock had his hands around him, and it wasn’t his fault that Magnus insisted he dance with him… 

“Of course not, it was genius.” Magnus said with a happy smile, he wasn’t going to make fun of Alec, quite the contrary, “That should be our new code name for sex.” He said with a happy wriggle of his eyebrows and Alec laughed. 

“OK, cool.” He agreed softly, leaning over to kiss Magnus, who happily complied. The kiss was gathering momentum and hands were starting to roam all over, trying to pull at clothes when a loud knock on the door was heard, startling the two lovers. Magnus let out a low growl that made Alec chuckle softly, 

“what is wrong with your siblings?” Magnus gritted through his teeth, no seriously there had to be something wrong with them, especially Jace, was he doing this on purpose? “It’s like they know…” He whispered conspiratorially, while Alec was whizzing softly in laughter, thoroughly enjoying the situation. Magnus looked up suspiciously, his eyes roaming around the room as if trying to detect hidden cameras. He wouldn’t put it past Jace to bug the place just so he could prevent Alec and Magnus getting intimate. Pulling away with an effort Alec walked to the door and opened it, and was very unsurprised to find Isabelle and Jace on the other side, 

“Come on guys, let’s go!” Isabelle said as she walked into the room, completely uncaring to the fact she could tell they were interrupting something, but honestly, if they had to wait for when Alec and Magnus were done having sex she’d never get to see her brother! 

“Where?” Alec asked as he closed the door and walked to stand besides Magnus again, 

“The ‘Hunter’s Moon’ of course,” Isabelle replied with a role of her eyes, as if it was a stupid question, “Everyone’s waiting to celebrate, you’re the only ones missing.” Alec looked between his sister and his brother, wondering if he missed something important in the last two hours since he left the institute, 

“What are we celebrating exactly?”

“A new era in the institute leadership,” Jace answered with a wide smile, causing Alec to narrow his eyes further. He really didn’t feel like celebrating the fact that his mother had won and that he was in all likelihood going to stay the second in command of the institute, at least officially, for quite a long time. It felt a little like Jace was rubbing it in, even though he knew he was just trying to cheer Izzy, and probably Max up. “We need to toast our everlasting union!” 

“Sounds like you already started toasting...” Magnus mumbled next to Alec but unfortunately Jace heard him and his eyes narrowed. Alec lifted his hands, hoping to stave the brewing argument before it started, 

“OK!” He cried loudly, relieved when he saw the happy smiles Jace and Isabelle were giving him. “We’ll go with you, but!” He stopped for dramatic effect, his index finger up in the air, his head held high, though none of it impressed either sibling much, “I’m taking the weekend off.” From the corner of his eye he could see the smile spreading on Magnus’ face and knew he made the right call, Isabelle shrugged, 

“Sure, you could use a break.” If anyone was in dire need of a break and some well deserved fun it was Alec, and she was very happy this came from him because she knew that if she had suggested it he would find a thousand and one excuses not to take the time off, and she really didn’t want to go behind his back and get Magnus to use all sorts of ways she didn’t want to know about to persuade her stubborn big brother. Alec looked at both of them suspiciously, it felt too easy… 

“I mean it!” He said firmly, and both Isabelle and Jace shrugged, which annoyed Alec even more, “No phone calls, no emergencies, no nothing for the next two…” Besides him Magnus coughed loudly into his fist what sounded a lot like ‘three’, “Right, three days!” Alec finished triumphantly, practically daring his siblings to deny him, but they both looked far too amused, 

“Deal.” Jace said as he walked forward to shake Alec’s hand, sealing the deal, and they both grinned at each other until Isabelle pushed Jace out of the way so that she could have her turn at shaking Alec’s hand, 

“We can handle the institute big brother, don’t worry.” She assured Alec who gave her a wide smile. Isabelle returned it with a sly smile of her own, “Where are you guys going?” Alec could feel the blush creeping to his cheeks as he looked at Magnus and got a very intense gaze back. Alec still couldn’t believe he managed to snag three whole uninterrupted days with his amazing fiancé, and he knew exactly where he wanted to spend them, 

“Paris.”

**THE END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Wow, I can’t tell you how happy I am that I finished this on time! 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, and I really hope you enjoyed my little fic. I’d love to hear what you think.


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